Posts Tagged ‘Employee Free Choice Act’

Recently, a nationally known pro-union web site, Strategic Organizing, attacked Metreks as a “union buster who’s first tactic is to drive a wedge between supervisors and employee.” I laughed out loud when I read it. They were responding to my recent post on “How To Win A 5 Day Union Campaign.”

The post discusses how companies CAN stay union free even if EFCA passes in the next few weeks. The part the union felt was “driving a wedge between supervisors and employees,” was where I said that the first thing a company should do is to educate their management team on how to improve labor relations and union avoidance basics.  The point of Metreks’ training is to cover topics every supervisor should know such as:

• Tell employees to get “union promises” in writing
• Remind employees of their rights to privacy even when unions ask for personal information or tries to visit them at home
• Explain that a union card is a contract between the union and the employee and when signed, gives that union power of attorney to represent that employee in future bargaining actions
• Talk about how Unions are in business to make money and they make money by collecting dues, fines, and assessments from union members

What part of this is “driving a wedge between supervisors and employees.”  Teaching the truth and instructing supervisors how to legally conduct themselves in an organizing effort is not driving a wedge but spreading the truth and helping to stop needless legal actions that costs companies millions every year.

If this is what unions call “Union Busting”, then I’m guilty.  Then again, can anyone think of one instance where a union did anything other than harm companies they organize?  What if we called unions “Company Killers.”  How does that help employees?  Think I’m wrong?  Look at the record.  Ask anybody who use to be a member of a union if they would rather work for a company that is unionized or union free and see what they say.

One final point.  When you are in the business of helping companies stay union free, and you get attacked by a union, you must be doing a good job.  Thanks for the endorsement!

SEIU sent out emails today urging all members to sign up for mobile alerts so the SEIU can immediately rally their members “When your Senator or Congressman needs to hear our voices on the health insurance reform, Employee Free Choice, or immigration debates.

When our members — your brothers and sisters — require support at the workplace, the state capitol, or in the streets.”

This is more evidence of big labor investing and building infrastructure to sway political opinions and organize non-union businesses. Like the old song says, “these times, they are a chang’n”. Is your business keeping up? Do you have a Strategic Labor Relations plan to deal with all the legal changes, threats, and union tactics? If not, you need to take action now. The times may be changing, but time stands still for no man.

Michael O’Brien at The Hill reports that this afternoon Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter flip-flopped (again), and said he’ll support the key vote to pass a modified version of card check.

With this, it seems that EFCA is once again picking up momentum going into the fall session.

The revised Employee Free Choice Act is reportedly going to be voted on in September of this year. As you may have heard, the secret ballot will not be eliminated but you will only have “5 to 10 days” to conduct your campaign.

You can win a 5 day campaign but there are some key things you must do to ensure your victory.

First, train your leadership team in union avoidance and labor relations immediately. Remember, people don’t vote FOR unions, they vote AGAINST management.

Second, have your union avoidance team put together. You will not have time to go through a selection process.

Third, tell your employees critical things they should know about the company and unions. They need to know things like: What is the company’s stance on unions; what is a union card; what are their rights; what are unions; and how do unions make money.

If you have your team in place, your management trained, and your employees up to speed, and you treat your people well, you can win a union campaign, even if you only have 5 days to campaign.

In case you didn’t see it, the New York Times reported that Big Labor and Democrats have dropped the “Card Check” portion of EFCA. In place of the card check provision, Big Labor wants a shorter campaign time of five to ten days, instead of the typical 60 days today. In addition EFCA could include:

• Job site access to employees
• Barring requirement of employees to attend “captive meetings”
• Some form of binding arbitration to prevent foot dragging by companies during contract negotiations

To key to staying union free under a revised EFCA is to proactively train your leadership team and your employees.  One thing that will not change regardless of the form EFCA takes is that people don’t vote unions, they vote against management.  If you treat your people well, you will remain union free.

With the Democrats filling 60 seats in the Senate and EFCA looming on the docket, the Teamsters have announced they are recruiting 1,000 organizers to hit the ground running after EFCA is passed.  According to an article recently posted on the Teamster’s web site, Teamster President Jim Hoffa said:

“To meet the many organizing challenges our union will face after passage of this commonsense legislation, the Teamsters Union is seeking to recruit and train 1,000 member organizers before the end of 2009,” Hoffa said. “We are engaged in national campaigns that will test the resources of the union. Without a mighty army of Teamster member organizers, we’re not going to get it done.”

To read more of the article, click on this link.
Unions across America are preparing to organize every business they can. They are getting prepared and so should you.

The battle over the Employee Free Choice Act is heating up. Leading up to the bill’s introduction, labor leaders and President Obama have said that EFCA will pass. Speaking last week, the President told the AFL-CIO Winter meeting: “And as we confront this crisis and work to provide health care to every American, rebuild our nation’s infrastructure, move toward a clean energy economy, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table.”

Additionally, Labor leaders stated last week that they currently have the sixty votes necessary to pass the EFCA. However, several moderate Senate Democrats including Senators Landrieu (D-LA), Pryor (D-AR) and Lincoln (D-AR) have declined to confirm that they plan to vote for the legislation. Over the weekend, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) claimed that she didn’t think bill proponents have sufficient votes to pass the legislation. Advisors to President Obama are expressing their opposition to the legislation, as Warren Buffet flatly asserted that he’s against the EFCA in an interview on CNBC.

The lines are drawn and business leaders should talk to their employees concerning this important legislation.  Many are hesitant to do so.  NAM, the National Association of Manufacturers, has put together a great EFCA Toolkit to help business leaders address EFCA issues. NAM also issued the following guidelines for employers to follow when they talk to their employees.

How to Talk to Your Employees about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)

General Information

• An employer may share the company’s issue agenda with anyone at any time in any manner.

• All employers can talk to employees about issues and elections as long as there is NO candidate advocacy at any time in any manner. Candidate Advocacy occurs when an employer endorses, supports or opposes any candidate or political party or tells an employee how to vote – these are all things you should NOT do.

Important Reasons to Talk to Your Employees about the EFCA

• Employers are one of the most credible sources when speaking about issues related to the workplace.

• Employees want to hear about issues that affect their company and their jobs.

How do You Start Talking to Your Employees about the EFCA?

• First, decide whether you want to engage just your employees on the EFCA issue or if you also want to engage your customers and suppliers. If you have a number of branch plants, decide whether you will do outreach at every location on card check or if you want to target certain branches.

• Once you decide what you want to do, let your employees know about the card check issue and why it is important to employees, their jobs and the company. Use one of your staff meetings, for example, to kick off your discussion about card check.

• Emphasize how important the issue is to employees, to their families, to the company, to the country and to manufacturing.

Finally, remind them why you are against the card check measure and that your stance is not anti-union but that the legislation is anti-employee.

How do You Communicate with Employees on the EFCA?

• An employer may send an issue alert about EFCA to all employees and retirees and ask them to take action by communicating with an elected official.

• The EFCA issue alert can come from the CEO/President, government affairs team or anyone else in the company who employees would view as a knowledgeable source about this issue.

• The EFCA issue alert should include a summary of the issue, its status, what elected officials should be contacted (House, Senate or both), relevant contact information for the elected officials (see above link) and talking points. It should also include someone in the company an employee could contact if they have any specific questions.

• Any communication to your employees on this issue should stress its impact on the employees.

• Voting records that state how an elected official performed on issues may be sent to anyone as long as they contain no language or indications that can be construed to endorse a candidate in an election.

Today in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced as expected. Now is the time for everyone to let their voices be heard throughout the halls of Congress.