Change is coming to Washington and to America’s workplaces. President Elect Obama launched a new website Change.gov where he explains his labor agenda which included passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The Obama Administration’s transition views are summarized at the Connecticut Employment Law Blog.
Unions are on board too. After their push for Obama, Unions seek new rules for organizing workforces through the EFCA, as observed by Steve Greenhouse of the NYTimes:
With union membership sliding to 7.5 percent of the private-sector work force, one-third the rate in 1983, unions see enactment of the bill as the single most important step toward reversing their loss of membership and power. Some labor leaders predict that if the bill is passed, unions, which have 16 million members nationwide, would add at least five million workers to their rolls over the next few years.
The impact of the EFCA will be monumental so we will be dedicating a lot of blog time to this topic. Look for future posts in the following areas:
- Nuts and Bolts of EFCA: examines the specifics of the proposed legislation.
- Employer’s Guide to Authorization Cards: looks in detail at authorization cards, their legal significance and how they are solicited by unions.
- Identifying and Training Supervisors to Maintain your Union-Free Status: outlines the role of supervisors in disseminating the employer’s message including the impact of the RESPECT Act.
- Employee Engagement Surveys as a Tool to Combat Union Organizing: keeping your finger on the pulse of employee.
- Becoming Politically Active in Response to EFCA: making your business’s voice heard in Washington and particularly by the one Republican Senator, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has co-sponsored the EFCA.
- How to Avoid Unfair Labor Practices when you are an Organizing Target: negotiating the legal landscape of traditional labor law.