Employee Free Choice Act

Bill Text »
Why the Employee Free Choice Act? »
Myth vs. Fact »
Small Businesses Stand to Gain »
Worker Rights Under Attack »
Worker Stories »
Supporters »
In the News »

Strengthening America's Middle Class by Helping Workers Bargain for a Better Life

The Employee Free Choice Act is simple. The bill will help make our economy work for everyone again by giving workers the tools they need to bargain for fair wages, benefits and treatment. The bill does this in three ways:

1. Gives workers the choice of whether to form a union through majority sign-up or through the National Labor Relations Board election process. Both processes already exist under current law, but employers currently hold the power to veto the decision of workers to form a union through majority sign-up. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow the NLRB to certify a union if a majority of employees in a workplace sign authorization cards designating the union as its bargaining representative. The NLRB would develop model authorization language and procedures for establishing the validity of signed authorizations. Under current law, employers often require workers who want to collectively bargain to go through one-sided, time-consuming elections as a condition of being certified as bargaining representatives. Such elections become the focal point of employer efforts to frustrate the right of workers to organize. Coercion and pressure on workers are reduced in the majority sign-up process.
    
2. Guarantees a first union contract through mediation and arbitration: If an employer and a union are engaged in bargaining for their first contract and are unable to reach agreement within 90 days, either party may refer the dispute to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) for mediation. If the FMCS has been unable to bring the parties to agreement after 30 days of mediation the dispute will be referred to arbitration and the results of the arbitration shall be binding on the parties for two years. Time limits may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties. Under current law, employers have a duty to bargain in good faith, but are under no obligation to reach agreement. As a result, a recent study found that 34% of union election victories had not resulted in a first contract after two or three years of bargaining.  If the union wins recognition, anti-union employers often simply carry their union busting campaign into contract negotiations.
    
3. Strengthens penalties for violations against workers who are trying to organize or negotiate a first contract: Makes the following new provisions applicable to violations of the National Labor Relations Act committed by employers against employees during any period while employees are attempting to organize a union or negotiate a first contract with the employer:
   

• Mandatory Applications for Injunctions: Provides that, just as the NLRB is required to seek a federal court injunction against a union whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the union has violated the law, the NLRB must also seek a federal court injunction against an employer whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that the employer has discharged or discriminated against employees, threatened to discharge or discriminate against employees, or engaged in conduct that significantly interferes with employee rights during an organizing or first contract drive. The bill also authorizes the courts to grant temporary restraining orders or other appropriate injunctive relief.
   
• Treble Back Pay: Increases the amount an employer is required to pay when an employee is illegally discharged or discriminated against during an organizing campaign or first contract drive to three times back pay.
   
• Civil Penalties: Provides for civil fines of up to $20,000 per violation against employers found to have willfully or repeatedly violated employees’ rights during an organizing campaign or first contract drive. Under current law, remedies are limited solely: back pay (minus any additional interim wages the employee did or should have earned), reinstatement, and notice to employees that the employer will not engage in violations of the NLRA. Many employers conclude that, even if caught, it is financially advantageous to violate the law and pay the penalties rather than to comply.