Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced legislation in both chambers of Congress that would make it easier for employees to form unions.
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Download NowSenator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Representative George Miller of California reintroduced the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union if the board finds that a majority of employees have signed authorizations designating the union as their bargaining representative. In effect, the EFCA would grant workers the right to unionize as soon as a majority of employees have signed cards indicating that they want to organize.
Under current law, the National Labor Relations Board typically oversees an election process for unions that uses secret ballots.
The legislation would also allow a union or employer to refer a dispute to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) if an employer and a union are engaged in bargaining for their first contract and are unable to reach agreement within 90 days. Under the legislation, if the FMCS has been unable to bring the parties to agreement after 30 days of mediation, the dispute would be referred to arbitration and the results of the arbitration would be binding on the parties for two years.
Business groups oppose the legislation, arguing that the election process would become a public one in which workers would feel pressure from union supporters to vote in favor of unionization. Unions argue that the secret-ballot process is flawed and allows employers to influence elections.
The legislation has been proposed before. In 2007, the House of Representatives approved the legislation, but Democrats in the Senate failed to get enough support to force a vote.
While Democrats picked up the presidency and additional seats in Congress in the November 2008 election, the future of the legislation remains unclear. Supporters still need 60 votes to force cloture (an end to debate) on the legislation--and it's unclear whether they will be able to get those 60 votes. Harkin told the New York Times and other media that he doesn't expect a vote on the legislation until April or May.