The misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA H.R.1409/ S.560) has been introduced in both the House and Senate, and this legislation poses drastic consequences for manufacturers. We’re urging Congress to oppose the EFCA and specifically the Senate to vote no on cloture.

The EFCA seeks to replace the current process of private ballot union representation elections with a system called “card check,” which can expose employees to coercion by union organizers and their peers. In fact, employees would lose their right to a private ballot election. The card check bill would eliminate over 70 years of precedent established under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.

Secret ballot elections should not be replaced with an unfair process that removes rights from workers and puts them in the hands of union bosses.

In addition, under this system, the government could dictate the terms of a union contract, including wages, benefits and work rules. In the likely event that a first contract cannot be reached in 120 days, employees would have no say regarding the terms of their first contract.

Government arbitrators should not undermine the employee-employer relationship which is the foundation of collective bargaining.

To better assist manufacturers’ efforts to engage employees in this issue, the NAM has prepared this web-based EFCA Toolkit that provides background information, polling data, facts about the bill in order to help with your communications.

For more information, contact Keith Smith, the NAM’s Director of Employment and Labor Policy, at ksmith@nam.org, (202) 637-3045.