Lebanon Reporter

Local News

July 7, 2009

Labor reps debunk myths

Lebanon — Unions believe approval of the federal Employee Free Choice Act will benefit employers as well as workers, two labor representatives said.

Joe Breedlove, Lebanon, secretary- treasurer of the Indiana AFLCIO, and Kaitlyn Decero, an AFLCIO representative, said they are working to eliminate “some problems with public awareness” about the EFCA during a recent interview.

“It’s important to remember unions are in the business of making businesses more productive,” Decero said.

More productivity means higher profits, Decero said. Higher profits mean a business can hire more employees, potentially increasing union membership.

“We’re on the same side when it comes to companies being successful and profitable,” Decero said.

Unions have three main objectives for the EFCA, Breedlove said:

Putting the election in the hands of employees, not employers.

Requiring binding arbitration if collective bargaining talks don’t result in a contract and

Requiring a company be fined

if it is found guilty of intimidating employees who attempt to organize. Opponents of the bill, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, claim it will eliminate secret ballots by workers wanting to join or form a union.

That’s a key misconception, Breedlove said. In a position paper, the U.S. Chamber claimed the so-called “card check” provision would mean an employer wouldn’t learn of a organizing campaign until after workers had established a union.

Breedlove said the card signing option “takes the decision away from the employer and puts it in the hands of the employees.”

The U.S. Chamber’s position paper said the signature card provision “essentially abolishes secret ballot elections.” Not true, Breedlove said.

Employees “still do have the opportunity to have the secret ballot or they can have the ... cards.”

Now, when employees organize, “all that basically does is say the employer has\ to sit down and bargain in good faith,” Breedlove said.

Wages are not always the top concern of workers, Breedlove said. It could be the number of hours being worked, he said, or health care, which is “a big issue right now.”

Unions can help employees and employers reach compromises, he said. About 12.7 percent of all workers nationwide belong to unions, Breedlove said.

“We think that number will go up drastically if this bill is passed.”

Another provision of EFCA will punish employers who attempt to intimidate workers into rejecting union

membership, Breedlove said.

He said studies have

shown 60 percent of workers

would join a union if given

the opportunity.

EFCA critic Richard A.

Epstein, in an article on the

U.S. Chamber’s Web site, said

the bill would “surely exert

an overall negative effect” on

jobs and salaries.

Text Only
Local News
  • 05-19-12 gold wings2.jpg Staying the Course

    The Gold Wings riders will put on a light show parade through town Saturday starting at 9 p.m. The public is invited back to the fairgrounds for a light show display and awards following the parade at around 10 p.m.

    May 19, 2012 1 Photo

  • Police arrest bicyclist who shot at vehicle

    Jeremy Steiman, 25, of Zionsville, was located and arrested Friday afternoon, three weeks after he put three .45 caliber bullets through the back windshield of a passing car while he was cycling on County Road 200 South near CR 700 East.

    May 19, 2012

  • I-65 overnight closings start Monday night

    The Indiana Department of Transportation announce there will be nightly 20-minute lane closures on Interstate 65 in both northbound and southbound lanes in Boone County from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. beginning Monday, May 21, through May 30, weather permitting.

    May 19, 2012

  • 05-18-12 regrets only.jpg 'Regrets Only'

    Tickets are $12 or $10 for seniors and students. Call 765-894-5587 for reservations.

    May 18, 2012 1 Photo

  • City OKs abatement for business addition

    Lebanon Business Park tenant IBC Coatings Technologies, Inc., was approved for a 10-year tax abatement on a new 9,000-square-foot expansion to its building at 902 Hendricks Dr. by the Lebanon City Council at Monday’s meeting.

    May 18, 2012

  • Zionsville school board votes to pursue full-day kindergarten

    Full-day kindergarten may be coming to Zionsville Community Schools.

    May 18, 2012

  • 05-17-12 crash1.jpg One airlifted after interstate crash

    A New Jersey man was airlifted via Lifeline helicopter to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon, after a crash that closed both northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 65 for more than an hour.

    May 17, 2012 1 Photo

  • Lebanon to celebrate Poppy Day on Memorial Day

    Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis declared this Memorial Day, May 28, to be Poppy Day in Lebanon at Monday’s Lebanon City Council meeting.

    May 17, 2012

  • 05-16-12 rachel becker.jpg LCSC honors its Teacher of the Year

    Rachel Becker knows she was called to be a teacher.

    May 15, 2012 1 Photo

  • State: 84 percent of 3rd-graders pass new reading test

    Sixteen percent of Indiana third graders failed to pass a high-stakes reading proficiency test that could determine whether they can move on to the fourth grade.

    May 15, 2012