Level field or bullying?

Would union intimidation or even playing field come from EFCA?

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Small business owners and leaders yesterday said a proposed move by Congress to make it easier for employees to unionize would subject them to “union thuggery.”

But supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act say it is employers who do the intimidating. They are calling for allowing workers to form a union by getting a majority of workers to sign cards instead of holding a so-called secret ballot election.

“Looking at the reality of the situation, it’s clear that the intimidation is coming from the employers side, not from the union side,” said Linda Meric, executive director of Denver and Milwaukee-based 9to5, a grassroots group dedicated to the issues of working women. “And what EFCA does, really, is just give employees a voice in the workplace, the ability, if a majority of them decide that they want to be in a union, to actually allow them to be in a union.”

Meric added that every 23 minutes a worker in the United States is fired or discriminated against for trying to form a union, according to federal labor statistics.

Employers are currently allowed to decide whether workers must hold an election or organize via the so-called “card check” system. EFCA would give workers the option of forming a union by card check or secret ballot.

The legislation would also mandate that a government arbitrator intervene if employers and workers cannot reach a contract within 120 days.

But opponents believe the legislation would subject workers to “intimidation by union bosses” by taking away the element of ballot secrecy.

Tony Gagliardi, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said yesterday outside the headquarters of the Hispanic Contractors of Colorado that any hope of negotiating contracts in good faith would end if Congress is to back the measure.

“If you think that labor is going to want to negotiate in good faith, not a chance — you believe in unicorns,” said Gagliardi. “What’s going to happen is they will stall and put off the process until the federal government sends in a federal arbitrator that knows absolutely nothing about the business that they’re going to negotiate an agreement on.”

“We are not going to subject our members to this union thuggery that this act’s going to bring about,” he said.

Support for EFCA

But Denver small business owner Estevan Trujillo says he has never felt intimidated by his 28 employees who are unionized. As the co-owner of Raymond’s Painting and Decorating, a 33-year-old family business, Trujillo supports EFCA because he believes it is right for America.

“The more that people are able to collectively bargain will help to bring up living wages, and hopefully instill some sort of health care … as well as pension plans or retirement,” he said. “Without employees having an option and a plan to negotiate for them in a better fashion, they’re just very difficult to come by.”

Trujillo said EFCA would actually help his small business by leveling the playing field. Because he believes in paying his workers a living wage, he and his partners have had to make sacrifices in order to pay them more. The result is that competing businesses with lower salary overhead are able to place more competitive bids on contracts.

If those businesses were paying similar wages as Raymond’s Painting and Decorating, they would not be able to undercut him by as much, he said.

Trujillo added that having unionized employees — members of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Local 79 — has actually been a benefit to his small business.

“We’re able to talk to them about issues that affect us and our bidding practices and what not,” he said. “And they share that information with other members and it helps us to bring an understanding when we come to the negotiations table of, ‘Hey, times are really bad, is this the time to go for this?’ It helps us to all come to a better understanding of where everyone’s at.”

Would EFCA increase job losses?

With Labor Day approaching, however, many business owners and leaders are arguing that EFCA would lead to sustained job losses and an elimination of worker rights. The opposition is part of a national campaign by the Workforce Fairness Institute.

“For some businesses struggling through these difficult times, it could easily be the final nail in the coffin that forces them to close their doors,” said Gagliardi. “When that happens, we all lose.”

* Sponsored Links *