Whether the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act is a “job killer” or an economic empowerment to the middle class became the focus of a League of Women Voters of Louisiana luncheon today. The measure was introduced in both chambers of Congress last month.
E. Frederick Preis Jr., president of LABI, says the business group opposes the measure because it would take away employers’ right to decide whether to use a card-check process or hold a secret ballot election among employees. Instead, he says the measure would allow employees to choose a secret-ballot election in cases where less than a majority of workers chose to unionize through card-check. The proposed legislation would also establish stricter penalties for employers who violate provisions when workers seek to unionize and require new mediation and arbitration procedures.
Stewart Acuff, assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO, says the measure is aimed at restoring collective bargaining in good faith and employee choice on union organizing. It would also impose “real fines” on employers at a time when Acuff says they are increasingly acting against employees exercising union activities. Acuff says the measure is aimed at empowering the middle class to improve wages, which have been stagnant nearly 30 years, while CEO salaries have risen dramatically.—Anna Thibodeaux
