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July 7, 2009

Labor reps debunk myths

By Rod Rose/The Lebanon Reporter

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.

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