By John Leschak
In response to the financial crisis, the government has failed to create public policies that effectively serve working families. But we cannot have a strong American economy without a prosperous working class. That is why we need the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which will improve working families’ standard of living by making it easier for workers to unionize.
Workers’ wages have been stagnant for decades and nearly 30 percent of working U.S. citizens now subsist on poverty wages. At the same time, inequality in the distribution of wealth is at its highest point since the 1920s. In 2006, the average CEO of a large U.S. company made $10.8 million, over 364 times the average $29,544 full-time U.S. workers made.
It is no coincidence that while inequality and exploitation are at historic heights, union membership is at a historic low. Currently, only 12.6 percent of all U.S. salary workers are unionized, down from 28.3 percent in 1954. The lack of unions partially explains the decline of wages and benefits. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, weekly wages are 30 percent higher (or nearly $200 more a week) and the value of health care, retirement and other benefits is 98 percent higher for private-sector workers in unions compared with wages for non-union workers.
Although the benefits of unionization are clear, union membership remains low due to the difficulty of unionizing the service jobs, which have replaced out-sourced manufacturing jobs, which were heavily unionized.
Currently, workplace elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are the primary way unions get legal recognition from an employer. These elections, conducted by secret ballot, are claimed to be the best way to ensure free and fair results. But, in fact, NLRB elections fall far short of democratic ideals. Almost half of all NLRB elections are ruined by employers engaging in illegal activity, such as firing pro-union employees and using other intimidating and coercive tactics.
These elections are increasingly being replaced with cooperative agreements involving “card check.” Under the card check approach, employers recognize a labor union when a majority of employees provide signed cards authorizing union representation. Since 2003, more than half a million Americans formed unions through the card check method. There are also now 22 laws in 12 states that allow certain public and private employees to form unions through the card check process. However, the majority of U.S. workers are still denied access to this fair and democratic alternative to NLRB elections.
The EFCA would extend the card check model to all workers, making it easier for unions to gain recognition. Currently, even after a union is recognized, the employer can still drag out contract negotiations for years. Therefore, EFCA also provides for the fair resolution of contract disputes through binding arbitration.
Finally, EFCA would create stronger penalties for employers’ violations of workers right to organize a union or engage in collective bargaining, including fines of up to $20,000 per violation of workers’ rights.
By encouraging unionization, EFCA will improve working families’ standard of living, and this in turn will restore the American economy. Call your local Congressperson and tell them to stop bailing out Wall Street and pass EFCA now.
John Leschak is a second-year law student. You may e-mail him at [email protected].
