Assad's Struggle Against US Imperialism (tags)
Syria
Obama's Abominable State of the Union (tags)
Obama
NSA
Obama Making More Enemies Than Friends (tags)
Obama
Unraveling The Card Check Debate (tags)
Sometimes in politics a particular issue strikes at the core of deeper social-economic forces. Card Check - properly named The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)- is such an issue. EFCA, if implemented as proposed, would allow workers at any work place to join a union simply by having the majority of employees sign union authorization cards. The current law mandates that there be a secret ballot election one month after the requisite number of signed cards are submitted. This one-month period allows employers to mount campaigns to discourage employees from voting for a union, often using conscious distortions and intimidation as tactics. EFCA would prohibit newly unionized workers from striking for two years to gain a first contract. Moreover, if a first contract has not been negotiated within the first three months, a Federal Mediator can step in and impose a contract. Currently, employers who are compelled to recognize a union do not have to concede to a negotiated contract at all; and if, after one year a contract has not been negotiated, the union can be subjected to a vote of decertification, which is often the case.