Dean Baker on EFCA

Thanks, Dean:

Anti-labor groups have been trying to whip up opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act by arguing that it will take away workers' right to have their union representation decided by a secret ballot. The most basic problem with this claim is that workers do not currently have this right.

Under current law, it is employers who have the right to demand that recognition be decided by a secret ballot. Unions can, and often are, certified by card check, a mechanism whereby it is determined that a majority of the workers in a bargaining unit have indicated their support for a union. Unions can also be decertified by card check.

The major change of the Employee Free Choice Act is that workers would have the option to determine the manner of certification not employers. The Post gets an "A" for pointing out that it would "end a company right to demand a secret-ballot election." Under the Act, workers would still have the option to petition for a secret ballot election, but the choice would remain with the workers.