yda employee free choice act manual

8/14/2019 YDA Employee Free Choice Act Manual

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Vision and Mission3

What is the Employee Free Choice Act?.......................................................4-5

Six Things You Can Do To Win the Employee Free Choice Act........6

Fact Sheet on the Employee Free Choice Act...7-8

Sample Letter to the Editor....9-10

Letter of Support11-12

Organizational Endorsement.....13

Union Glossary...14-15


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Vision StatementIn the spirit of An Injury to One is An Injury to All, we are coming together

to take a stand with the millions of working people in support of theEmployee Free Choice Act.

Mission StatementWorking with Jobs with Justice and SLAP we have identified the next 4months as a crucial window in time to fight for structural and systemicchange as it pertains to labor law and the rights of workers to bargain for

better wages, benefits, and working conditions. It is for that reason that weare calling on our brothers and sisters, friends and co-workers, neighborsand schoolmates, to stand with us in the fight for the Employee Free ChoiceAct which would be a game changer for working people across the country intheir efforts to seek union representation.

SLAP is a national network of youth and student organizations across thecountry standing up for workers rights. We work with a diverse array of

student and youth organizations tackling different economic injustices indistinct communities, all the while continuously searching for connections

between local and national campaigns. As a network we place our biggestemphasis on creating local change and sharing the lessons learned fromthose campaigns with other students interested in similar social change.


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The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced on Nov. 21, 2003, by U.S. Sen.Edward Kennedy (S. 1925) and U.S. Rep. George Miller (H.R. 3619).

Certification on the Basis of Signed Authorizations - EFCA would provide forcertification of a union as the bargaining representative if the National LaborRelations Board (NLRB) finds that a majority of employees in an appropriate unithas signed authorizations designating the union as its bargainingrepresentative. The proposed act would require the board to develop modelauthorization language and procedures for establishing the authenticity of

signed authorizations.

First-Contract Mediation and Arbitration - EFCA would provide that if anemployer and a union are engaged in bargaining for their first contract and areunable to reach agreement within 90 days, either party may refer the dispute tothe Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) for mediation. If the FMCShas 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 shallbe binding on the parties for two years. Time limits may be extended by mutual

agreement of the parties.

Stronger Employer Penalties - EFCA would make the following new provisionsapplicable to violations of the National Labor Relations Act committed byemployers against employees during any period in which employees areattempting to organize a union or negotiate a first contract with the employer:

Mandatory Applications for Injunctions - EFCA would provide that just as theNLRB is required to seek a federal court injunction against a union whenever

there is reasonable cause to believe the union has violated the secondary boycottprohibitions in the act, the NLRB must seek a federal court injunction against anemployer whenever there is reasonable cause to believe the employer hasdischarged, discriminated against employees, threatened to discharge ordiscriminate against employees or engaged in conduct that interferessignificantly with employee rights during an organizing or first-contract drive.EFCA would authorize the courts to grant temporary restraining orders or other


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appropriate injunctive relief.

Treble Back Pay - EFCA would increase the amount an employer is required topay when an employee is discharged or discriminated against during an

organizing campaign or first-contract drive to three times back pay.

Civil Penalties - EFCA would provide for civil fines of up to $20,000 per violationagainst employers found to have willfully or repeatedly violated employeesrights during an organizing campaign or first-contract drive.


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1. Get petitions signed supporting the passage of the Employee Free ChoiceAct. These cards can allow you to grow your list of activists and supporters.We encourage you to add the signers of your cards to your data bases forthose who support workers rights and to follow up with them by letting themknow what else they can do in your community to support workers rights,

giving them updates on local, national and international workers struggles.

2. Pass a resolution supporting living wages, the right to organize, bargain

collectively and the Employee Free Choice Act for all workers.

3. Contact the local Jobs with Justice Coalition or Central Labor Council inyour area to find out what you can do to support workers in your community.

4. Organize educational events such as presentations, work shops, or teach-ins, or educational segments in your regular meetings informing yourmembers of the plight of workers in the U.S and the Employee Free Choice

Act.

5. As you conduct lobby visits to your state and federal legislators educatethem on the plight of workers in your community and encourage them tosupport the Employee Free Choice Act.

6. Get your chapter to sign on to the EFCA support letter and ask partnerorganizations and community organizations in your area to sign the EFCAsupport letter


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Fact More than half of American workers, 60 million, say they would join aunion right now if they could.The Employee Free Choice Act is a legislation that would give workers a fair and directpath to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract withtheir employer in a reasonable period of time, and simultaneously toughen penaltiesagainst employers who violate their workers' rights.

Fact - High-school educated workers aged 25-29 just entering the labor forcein 2000 earned about $5,000 less real income that year than similarly agedand educated workers in 1970.Working people want to form unions. Unionized younger workers were about 17percentage more likely to have health insurance and about 24 percentage more likely tohave a pension than their non-union counterparts. With the Employee Free Choice Actworkers will have the opportunity to freely form and join unions, bargain for better payand benefits, provide for their families with better living standards and shift the powerfrom employers to employees.

Fact - Seventy-five percent of employers hire union-busting consultantsduring organizing drives to help companies implement both legal and illegalpressure tactics to thwart workers rights to unionize.This tactful mismanagement of workers right cannot and should not be tolerated.Working People must have the freedom to confront their employer about their workingcondition and the ability bargain for better wages and benefits. The Employee FreeChoice Act, which has bipartisan support in Congress, would level the playing field foremployees and employers.

The Employee Free Choice Act Would:Strengthen penalties against employers who break the law. Too many unscrupulousemployers get away with breaking labor laws because the current penalties are tooweak. The Employee Free Choice Act would increase penalties against employers whoillegally fire or retaliate against pro-union workers during an organizing campaign or aneffort to obtain a first contract.Allow employers or employees to request mediation if theyre unable to negotiate a firstcontract. Under current law, anti-union employers often drag workers through lengthy


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negotiations by delaying bargaining sessions, withholding relevant information, andputting forth bogus proposals. The Employee Free Choice Act will strengthen workers

ability to achieve a first contract within a reasonable period of time.The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to form a union through majoritysign-up. If workers know they want a union, we should have laws that let them have it.The Employee Free Choice Act would require an employer to recognize its employeesunion when a majority has signed union authorization cards.

Fact - On average, unionization raised young workers' wages by 12.4 percent,about $1.75 per hour, compared to non-union young workers with similarcharacteristics. The whole community benefits when working people form unions. Itsnot a coincidence that as union membership has declined, weve seen a shrinking

middle class, more low paying jobs, and a huge increase in the number of people

without health insurance. The gap between rich and poor has grown wider in the U.S.than in any other industrialized nation.States where many workers are union members have lower poverty rates, better schools,more people with health insurance, and less crime than states where few people areunion members. Unions provide a space and a means for workers that aresystematically disenfranchised to become empowered and organize against theseinjustices. The Employee Free Choice Act seeks to empower workers and in turnenfranchise the communities they belong to.

What Can You Do To Help Pass The Employee Free Choice Act? Get petitions signed supporting the passage of the Employee Free Choice. As you conduct lobby visits to your state and federal legislators educate them on theplight of workers in your community and encourage them to support the Employee FreeChoice Act. Pass a resolution supporting living wages, the right to organize, bargain collectivelyand the Employee Free Choice Act for all campus workers. Contact the local Jobs with Justice Coalition or Central Labor Council in your area tofind out what you can do to support workers in your community. Organize educational events such as presentations, workshops, or teach-ins

informing students of the plight of workers in the U.S and the Employee Free Choice Act.

For More Infowww.studentlabor.org /www.freechoiceact.org/ www.jwj.org


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Fill in the blanks to customize for your local audience. The op-ed should be signed or co-signed by a

local union and community or faith-based movement leader.

The true beauty about American history is that there is always a point in time where the

disenfranchised break the chains that bind them and master their own ships. Thatswhat the civil rights movement was about. Thats what the womens suffragist

movement was about. Thats what the Declaration of Independence was about. Buttheres a basic freedom that Americans have been historically and are presently being

denied day after day. More than half of Americas workers say they would like to join a

union but too few will get that chance, because employers routinely and shamefullyviolate workers freedom to form unions.

The Human Rights Watchan internationally recognized organization that monitors

basic human rightshas issued a report calling the routine violation of workers rightsin the United States a fundamental human rights issue. How bad is it? Research showsthat even though our laws supposedly guarantee Americas workers the right to choose

for themselves whether to have union, employers routinely violate that right. Workers areharassed, intimidated, coerced and even fired, just for exercising, or attempting toexercise, this basic freedom. Some 42 million workers in America say they would form aunion tomorrow to improve their jobs, gain health care, ensure job security and have asay in their working conditions. However, employers do just about anything to stopthem, including breaking the law. Twenty-five percent of private-sector employersillegally fire workers for supporting a union. More than three-quarters use workers own

supervisors to pressure workers in one-on-one meetings.

A huge segment of non-union workers includes young workers, a segment of the workingpopulation ages 18 to 29. This grouping has been the hardest hit by the stagnant wagegrowth over the last three decades. After adjusting for inflation, the wage of a typical18 to 29 year-old worker was about 20 percent lower in 2007 than it had been since1979. The percentage of young workers in unions has fallen from 16 Percent in 1983(earliest year available) to 8.2 Percent in 2007. This is a huge and problematic declineespecially since statistics prove that young workers are about 17 percent more likely to

have health insurance and 24 percent more likely to have a pension than their nonunioncounterparts. Statistics also prove that young workers that join a union will likely seetheir wages go up by 12.4 percent-about $1.75 per hour- compared to a non unionworker in a similar circumstance.

According to Cornell University researcher Kate Bronfenbrenner ninety-two percent ofemployers force workers to attend meetings against the union in an attempt to


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discourage workers from joining unions. Such tactics enable employers to instill fear inworkers and furthermore constrain them to their present working condition where analternative seems impossible. Yet through the introduction of The Employee Free ChoiceAct (S. 1925, H.R. 3619), sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George

Miller(D-Calif.), another choice, another option, an alternative is possible. The act ensuresthatwhen a majority of employees in a workplace will have the ability to decide to formunion, employees can do so without the debilitating obstacles employers now use toblock workers free choice. This transcendental legislation which will balance the powerdynamics between corporations and workers will impact all those entering the currentworkforce. There is a proven link between communities in which most of its citizens arein unions and the reduction of crime and improved school system. Workers in unionshelp create and foster better communities.

This presents an exciting opportunity to strengthen the rights of workers to choose aunion freely, and we must obtain firm commitments from our elected officials at alllevels to take a clear stand in support of this bill. [Name of local elected official ] hasdemonstrated [his or her ] support for workers rights by [insert particulars: quotation,stated stand on legislation, action taken]. [He or she] has yet to be joined by our electedrepresentatives at the [municipal, state and/or federal ] levels.

These employer abuses come at a huge cost to society, not only because they contravene

our basic constitutional freedoms but also because when the right to choose a union issuppressed, societys safety net is strained, race and gender pay gaps widen,

discrimination on the job increases, wages and local tax bases dwindle and job safetystandards plummet. The democracy Americas workers have fought so long and hard toestablish should not be pillaged by unscrupulous individuals. The passage of theEmployee Free Choice Act would enfranchise workers and break the chains that bindthem to such unscrupulous and deceitful employers. We cannot continue to sacrificeworkers rights and punish those that seek to organize around these rights. The powerdynamics need to be shifted to be better balanced and the passage of the EmployeeFree Choice Act would ensure that. Please urge our local elected officials to support theEmployee Free Choice Act so that we may restore to workers in [town name] and acrossthe whole of our democracy the fundamental freedom to form unions. [Name, title]


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Recognizing the importance of a fair and democratic workplace, We, the undersignedorganizations and individuals pledge our support for The Employee Free Choice Act.

The current system of workplace organization in this country is broken. Workers allacross America are scared to engage in their legally protected right to organize at theirworkplace in order to improve working conditions, wages, benefits and job security.Employers take advantage of the broken and badly skewed system and routinelyintimidate, coerce, and even fire workers for engaging in workplace organization. ACornell University study showed that at least half of employers facing unionizationdrives threaten to partially or totally shut down if workers join a union, and one of fiveworkers who try to organize are illegally fired.

This routine and flagrant violation of workers rights has created a climate of fear andintimidation in the workplace. The results are that too many workers do not try toexercise their freedom for fear of losing their jobs. They quietly suffer hazardous workingconditions, falling wages, and declining benefits.

The American Anthropological Association wrote in a 2007 policy briefing that:Anthropology provides sound evidence for the premises of The Employee Free Choice Act,

namely that current organizing processes do not allow employees to express their desireto join unions because: 1) there are insufficient disincentives to managerial

lawbreaking in its resistance to unions; and 2) management uses tactics of

intimidation and fear to coerce workers to vote against unions.

The Employee Free Choice Act helps fix the current system by strengthening penaltiesfor bosses that break the law while dealing with workplace organizing campaigns. Itwill also establish a system for third-party mediation if a contract agreement cannot bereached within 90 days of joining a union. Lastly, the Employee Free Choice Act will

enable employees to form unions when a majority show their support to unionize bysigning authorization cards.

The Employee Free Choice Act will restore the freedom to organize in the Americanworkplace and level the playing field for working people, who can not wait another dayfor this piece of historic legislation to be passed. We urge our legislators in Congress toact NOW and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, so that America can be a shining light


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of workplace democracy, where Americans will no longer work in fear of making theirvoices heard.

For More Info1: http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/how/employerinterference.cfm2: http://www.aaanet.org/pdf/AAAPolicyBrief_092707.pdf


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We, the undersigned organization, are concerned about the pervasive violation of therights of working people when they attempt to exercise their basic freedom to formunions and bargain collectively for a better life. The Employee Free Choice Act is thefirst step to fixing this badly broken system.

The Employee Free Choice Act will:

- Strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate employees trying to formunions and bargain.- Establish mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannotagree on a first contract.- Enable employees to form unions when a majority signs authorization cards.Our organization endorses the Employee Free Choice Act and permits our organizationsname to be used on materials that may be reproduced and distributed to the press andthe general public.PLEASE TYPE or PRINT CLEARLY:Name: _______________________________________________________Title: _________________________________________________________Organization: ___________________________________________________Address:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________City: ______________________State: ___________ Zip:_________________Phone: _______________________________Fax: _________________________________***Return to [email protected] or fax (202) 393-7408***


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Collective Bargaining: A process, usually regulated by law, in which a group of employees and theiremployer negotiate issues of wages, hours, and other conditions of the employer-employee

relationship, for the purpose of reaching a mutually acceptable agreement, and the execution of awritten contract incorporating that agreement.

Contract: A written agreement reached through collective bargaining that sets forth wages, hours andother conditions of employment.

Grievance: A formal complaint by an employee which charges that management has violated someaspect of the union contract.

Living Wage: The lowest possible hourly wage a person can earn and still be able to cover the basiccosts of living. As costs of living vary between different locations and increases with time, so does the

living wage.

Local Union: Group of organized employees holding a charter from a national or international labororganization. A local may be confined to union members in one company or one specific locality, or itmay cover multiple contracts with various employers.

Lockout: A denial of employment by the employer for the purpose of forcing workers to settle on theemployers terms.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): An agency of the U.S. Government that enforces the Wagnerand Taft-Hartley Acts. It conducts most private sector certification elections. The NLRBs function is to

define appropriate bargaining units, hold elections, determine majority status for voluntary card checkrecognition, to certify unions to represent employees, to interpret and apply the laws provisionsprohibiting employer and union unfair labor practices, and to otherwise enforce the provisions of U.S.labor laws.

Neutrality Agreements: An agreement between a union and employer requiring the employer not tooppose efforts of their workers to organize a union.

Open Shop: A workplace in which employees do not have to belong to the union or pay dues to secure orretain employment with a company, even though there may be a collective bargaining agreement. Theunion is obligated by law to represent members and non-members equally regardless of whether it is

an open shop or a union shop.

Organizer: (or union or labor organizer): Employee of a union or federation (usually paid but sometimesa volunteer) whose duties include recruiting new members for the union, assisting in forming unions innon-union companies, leading campaigns for recognition, etc.

Rank and File: The members of a union as distinct from the officers.


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Recognition: When an employer agrees to recognize a union as the bargaining agent for the employees.Right to Work Laws: An anti-union term coined to describe state laws that make it illegal for acollective bargaining agreement to contain clauses requiring union membership as a condition ofemployment.

Scab: A derogatory term used for a person who crosses a picket line in order to work at a place that ison strike. Also used as a verb as in Dont scab.

Shop Steward (Representative or Delegate): A worker, typically elected, who officially represents otherworkers on the job, enforces the contract and helps people with grievances.

Union-Busters: Professional consultants or lawyers who manipulate the labor law system and adviseemployers on how to thwart union organizing drives or how to decertify unions. 75% of employers hireunion-busters when workers want to organize. Union busters usually self-identify as union avoidancefirms, management consultants, or labor consultants.

Union Density: The portion of the workforce organized by unions. Higher density is an important factorin unions power to drive higher wages and benefits and better working conditions for a workforce.

Union Shop: Form of union security provided in the collective bargaining agreement that requiresemployees to belong to or pay dues to the union as a condition of employment.

yda employee free choice act manual

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