Friday, January 09, 2009
Employee Free Choice Act has broad-based support
A new poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans from just about all walks of life supports legislation that protects workers' freedom to form unions and collectively bargain for better working conditions.
The poll, conducted last month by Hart Research Associates, shows that 78 percent of those questioned favor legislation that would make it easier to form unions. Nearly half of those polled are strongly in favor.
Congress is expected to consider legislation this year that would provide working Americans with a measure of fairness when trying to form a union and when bargaining a first contract. Supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) say it is needed because many employers, when faced with employees who exercise their legal right to form a union and collectively bargain, would rather hire anti-union law firms to harass and intimidate workers and pay an insignificant fine if caught breaking our nation's notoriously weak labor laws.
EFCA would make forming a union simple: If a majority of workers signs union cards -- known as "card check" -- workers get their union. Workers would still be able to have a secret-ballot union election if one third of the workers petition to do so.
EFCA would also strengthen the penalties for violating the law during organizing campaigns and union elections as well as mandate mediation or arbitration for first-ever contract disputes to prevent companies from dragging out negotiations to wither support for the new union. According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 44 percent of workers who form a new union never reach a first contract.
The poll, which was paid for by the AFL-CIO, has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. Some of its other findings:
-- A majority (69 percent) of Americans agree it is very or fairly important to have strong laws that give employees the freedom to make their own choice about whether to form a union in their workplace. Half of Americans say this is very important.
-- Support for the Employee Free Choice Act stretches across demographic and geographic lines. Democrats (87 percent) and Independents (69 percent) support EFCA. Even among Republicans, nearly half support the legislation. Opposition is further confined to Republicans who identify as conservatives (36 percent support). Three-quarters of moderate/liberal Republicans favor passing EFCA.
-- Just 47 percent of adults know that when elections are held in a workplace to determine whether a union will represent employees, employers generally oppose the union and try to convince employees to vote no. Three in 10 Americans believe employers generally take no position and let employees decide on their own and 21 percent are not sure.