Business Coalition Forming to Support Secret Ballot Requirements for Unions by Fawn H. Johnson
A coalition of business groups is forming to lobby for legislation sponsored by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.) that would require unions to conduct secret ballot elections during organizing drives and in collective bargaining.
To date, Norwood has introduced two bills on the topic. The first (H.R. 874) would require employees seeking union representation to hold a National Labor Relations Board-certified secret ballot election before their union can be recognized. The second (H.R. 1748) would require unions to hold secret ballot elections on contract offers before they call for a strike or work stoppage. That bill does not specify that the NLRB must be involved.
The business lobbying effort behind Norwood's legislation is, in part, a response to unions' advocacy for another bill that would require employers to recognize a union through a so-called "card check" process that does not involve a secret ballot election (S. 842, H.R. 1696).
The union-backed bill has been the center of an AFL-CIO-sponsored grassroots campaign. In the last election, every Democratic candidate for national office signed on to the measure. The bill also is supported by a handful of Republicans, including Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who was endorsed by the AFL-CIO in 2004. Specter chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Association of Builders and Contractors are heading up the coalition pushing for unions to hold secret ballot elections, according to Michael Eastman, the chamber's director of labor policy.
Currently, the coalition is testing lawmakers' willingness to tackle what is likely to be a politically divisive labor issue. "It's no secret that these issues are tough for a certain number of Republicans," Eastman told BNA."But we've never really tried to push it before."
"We're ramping up," Eastman said in describing the coalition's work. The coalition is focusing on the House, which is more likely to act on issues that tend to divide along party lines.
Hastert, Boehner Have Shown Interest
Congressional sources said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) have shown an interest in the addressing Norwood's secret ballot bills.
"This is not your typical business/labor fight," said one lawmaker with knowledge of the issue who spoke on background. "Requiring secret ballot elections? It's apple pie."
The lawmaker acknowledged, however, that any attempt to act on such legislation would meet with fierce opposition from organized labor.
Under current law, employers can agree to recognize unions if they are presented with authorization cards signed by a majority of the employees stating their desire for union representation. Employer recognition under the process is voluntary, however, and employers presented with such cards can call for secret ballot elections.
Unions argue that the NLRB election process is slow and cumbersome and that it can take years for certification. During that time, employers can marshall the resources to defeat the organizing campaign and intimidate workers, unions say.
Employers argue that the card check procedure allows union organizers to intimidate workers into supporting union representation and pressure companies into recognizing unions by targeting customers.
A spokesman for Norwood said the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, which Norwood chairs, would consider the secret ballot bills separately to diminish the level of controversy. The two measures "should be debated on their merits" before they are assumed to be anti-labor, he said. "People have democratic rights in dealing with unions."
That union-backed bill was reintroduced last week by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) (75 DLR A-4, 04/20/05) . In addition to codifying the card check procedure, the bill also would provide for first contract mediation and arbitration if a contract is not reached within 90 days and increase penalties for employers that violate the law when employees are attempting to organize or obtain a first contract.
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