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Argument: EFCA reforms a broken, undemocratic, and unfair US union system

Issue Report: Employee Free Choice Act

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“The Employee Free Choice Act”. Campaign for America’s Future. – The federal government is blocking the freedom of working people to make their own decisions about joining a union. The current system for union recognition is decidedly undemocratic. One side—the corporation—has all the power, controls the information workers receive, and routinely poisons the process by intimidating, harassing, coercing, and even firing people who try to organize unions. Penalties for corporate violations of the law are so insignificant that they have virtually no effect.

American workers should have the freedom to choose a majority sign-up system. Ever since the Great Depression, the law has allowed workers to form a union when a majority has signed authorization cards and those cards are validated. But it is currently the corporation’s choice—not the workers’ choice—whether to follow that process.

“The Employee Free Choice Act”. American Rights at Work – “Why is this bill so important? It’s plain as day: workers are struggling in this country. Today’s workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by.

The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.”

“The Employee Free Choice Act Meaningful. Remedies Against Employer Coercion”. AFL-CIO – The number of employer unfair labor practices has soared since the 1950s and 1960s. Studies document increases of 600 percent to 800 percent.1 In 1998, roughly 24,000 employees won compensation for being fired or punished illegally for union activity, up from less than 1,000 in the 1950s and about 6,000 in 1969.2 During worker campaigns to form a union, 25 percent of all employers illegally fire at least one employee for union activity, according to another study