US employers and unions battle over proposed labor laws

As the US elections draw closer, America's unions and employers are battling fiercely over proposed legislation that would shake up the country's labor laws. The unions are spending more than $300 million to try to ensure across-the-board November victories for Democrats, which would probably guarantee that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is passed next year. They believe that the legislation, which is opposed by many organizations including Wal-Mart, would help them to reverse their decades of decline. The EFCA will be an early priority in the new 2009 Congress. Among other changes, it will give new powers to workers who want to unionize. But its supporters face opposition from America's business owners, who have begun a plethora of initiatives to discredit the legislation. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, made up of employer-centric organizations such as the US Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, is co-ordinating the effort. In its "public education campaign" it has started buying TV advertising featuring Sopranos actor Vincent Curatola to bolster Republican candidates. The retail association's biggest member, Wal-Mart, is agitating against the EFCA, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the company held mandatory meetings for supervisors and managers warning them that a Democratic victory in November and subsequent passage of the EFCA would lead to unionization and union fees. The company issued a statement denying that it was advocating its workers vote against Democratic candidates but added it did discuss the bill's "negative impact" with its employees. Wal-Mart said its stance on the legislation is no secret. Wal-Mart's employee relations activities and anti-union sentiments are legendary in North America and the company once closed a store in Canada rather than let its workers organize. Analysis of Wal-Mart's 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission published in June by the Morning News in Arkansas revealed there are at least 80 class-action lawsuits in 41 states pending against the retailer, 76 of which stem from wage and off-the-clock issues. News of the Wal-Mart meetings incensed unionists. "Wal-Mart is America's best known corporate bully," said Stewart Acuff, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which is made up of 56 unions. "They have always bullied their workers; they have always bullied their managers and supervisors and now they are trying to bully the American political system." To ensure the deep-pocketed employers don't outspend them in this election cycle, the US labor movement is on course to spend at least $300 million -- $400 million, if you ask the US Chamber of Commerce–to back Democrats. Aside from aiding the election of Senator Barack Obama as president, perhaps an even more important priority is to ensure voters elect 60 Democratic Senators, which would give the party a filibuster-proof majority and ensure passage of the law no matter who is in the White House. The chances of that happening are unlikely, but not impossible. Acuff said that Obama, who is a co-sponsor of the legislation, will, if elected, not only sign it but also help to push for passage. "Senator Obama understands this legislation very well. He understands why it is in the interest of the country; why it is in the interest of the economy and why it is in the interest of his presidency," he said. End of the secret ballot? The main crux of the EFCA is to make it easier for workers to organize. For decades the employers have chosen the method workers must use to decide on having a union and they have usually called for secret ballots. Under the proposed law the emphasis on who chooses the method switches to the workers. They can stick with the secret ballot or, as is more likely, initiate majority sign-up procedures, which force employers to recognize a union if a majority of employees has signed valid written forms authorizing union representation. Acuff said the new law is necessary because the loss of power to form unions and bargain collectively "has led to 30 years of wage stagnation and now wage decline which has led to the economic crisis that we have today. Nowadays there is just not enough buying power at the bottom." US government statistics showed that wages dropped 2.4% in the 12 months to June this year, once inflation is stripped out. Statistics also show the US in 2007 had 15.7m union members, or 12.1% of employees down, from 20.1% of workers in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available. The US Chamber of Commerce, which is spending "several million dollars" to fight the EFCA, as well as being a party to the $30m Coalition for a Democratic Workplace campaign, sees the possible end of the secret ballot as the biggest fault of the legislation. "We think this is a fundamental rewrite of our nation's labor laws," said Glenn Spencer, executive director for the Chamber's workforce freedom initiative. The Chamber has other problems with the legislation; for instance it allows for binding arbitration if the union and management cannot agree on the first contract after unionization. Also the bill imposes penalties on employers in a dispute with workers but not on unions if they are in dispute with workers. Spencer says the Chamber is spending its money to educate its members of the perils of the legislation and those members in turn will lobby their elected officials. He claims the employers will be outspent hugely by the unions. What the employers are spending "will pale in comparison to the $400 million the unions are putting in. Frankly we feel a little bit like the 300 Spartans here… we are totally outgunned."