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Open Letter to CongressMarch 4, 2009
Oppose the Employee Free Choice Act Dear Members of Congress: Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace is a coalition of agricultural associations and their members who are fighting to protect the right to a federally supervised private ballot when workers are deciding whether or not to join a union — a right that is threatened by the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). While businesses in general will be impacted by the EFCA, agriculture could feel the effect more acutely, given the size and structure of many of our individual operations, and the sensitivity of our businesses to supply chain disruptions. Many employers, already struggling to keep U.S. agricultural jobs open in the face of the current economic crisis, are threatened. We are opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act because it would strip American workers, including many workers in the agricultural industry, of that right and replace it with a system in which their choice of whether or not to join a union is no longer private and their right to vote by a secret ballot election is effectively annulled. We believe the only way to guarantee worker protection from coercion and intimidation is through the continued use of a federally supervised private ballot election so that personal decisions about whether to join a union remain private and a true reflection of a worker’s intent. The EFCA legislation threatens the fundamental American right of workers to a secret ballot election when determining union representation. It will replace the privacy of election booths with the very public “card check recognition” process. Employees would be forced to make their preference for or against unionization publicly, in front of union officers, their coworkers and their employers. The “card check” process invites intimidation and coercion in the organizing process by eliminating the privacy and anonymity that are cornerstones of America’s free election process and granted to employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Although organized labor may assert that the EFCA does not eliminate the secret ballot, that does not reflect reality. Currently, an election by secret ballot can be called by union organizers if 30 percent of workers sign authorization cards. EFCA prohibits an election if a majority of the employees sign authorization cards. The union is simply installed as the bargaining representative. Rather than risk an election, union organizers will wait until they have collected cards from 50 percent plus one of the workers, bypassing the secret ballot election completely. The secret ballot election will be effectively eliminated by EFCA. The text of the bill is clear in this regard. Furthermore, the EFCA contains a provision that mandates binding arbitration on the employer and the employees if agreement on a contract cannot be reached; a third party—a government official—will make the labor contract decisions, binding both parties. Companies that are not able to operate under contracts that are not negotiated to the mutual benefit of the company and the union may be forced to reduce worker benefits, or reduce their workforce to remain in business, or even worse, to close their doors. While agricultural field workers are not subject to the provisions of the NLRA, workers in other agricultural jobs do fall under the provisions of the NLRA. Workers in packing plants, processing plants, and cooling facilities; workers in trucking and transportation; workers who handle commodities of multiple farmers; and workers at many other off-the-farm worksites would be subject to the EFCA. For 75 years, the NLRA has afforded workers the right to vote by secret ballot for or against the union, the right to vote to accept or reject a collectively bargained agreement; and employers the right to state their case to their employees. Why take away these fundamental rights? Finally, we need to make small businesses and family farms more competitive, incentivize the growth of new business, and encourage job creation. Passage of the EFCA will result in the opposite. We urge you to oppose this legislation. Respectfully, Agri-Business Council of Arizona, Inc. |
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