Defeat 'Free Choice Act'

The most recent changes to the Employee Free Choice Act currently before Congress have not improved the bill. In fact, the changes have made bad legislation even worse. EFCA must be defeated in order to allow our elected officials to focus on legislation that will actually help this country.

Removing the card check provision of the bill shifts big labor's focus to the timing of union elections and unfair access to workers.

Currently, union elections take about 40 days. Union bosses claim they need faster elections (five to 10 days). What the union bosses know is that the more time workers have to learn about the union, the less interested they are in joining.

With this bill, big labor will block management from communicating with workers during a union campaign, while union bosses will have even more opportunities to influence the outcome. Right now, management can tell its side of the story in the workplace only, and union organizers have full access to workers outside of the workplace. With EFCA, union organizers will be allowed on company property, but management will receive no additional access to workers. Additionally, a business can be fined up to $20,000 per incident should one person interpret management's communications as "coercive." And yet, EFCA offers no restrictions or checks on anything the unions might say during the election timeframe - whether truth or fiction.

Businesses drive the economic engine of this country by creating jobs and new opportunities. Right now, our elected officials need to be able to focus on legislation and initiatives that will improve our nation's economy, rather than wasting time on non-issues that create obstacles in our collective recovery. This bill needs to be defeated.