Contractors Oppose Free Choice Act

The Arkansas chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. is encouraging its members to contact their legislators regarding the Employee Free Choice Act.

The group sponsored a series of lectures in January to discuss the impact of EFCA on companies, including lectures in Fort Smith and Bentonville on Jan. 15.

The new legislation would allow workers to sign a card supporting unionizing a workplace instead of current law requiring a secret ballot election.

Under EFCA, a union could be formed if a majority of employees signed cards indicating they are in support of a union.

Currently, workers may seek an election through a petition drive or a “check card ” system in which the individual workers indicate their interest in holding an election. An election is then carried out by the National Labor Relations Board through secret ballot.

The ABC claims the legislation would give organized labor an unfair advantage by making it easier for a union to become the collective bargaining representative of a group of employees.

Without the private ballot, the group claims, workers could be coerced or intimidated into signing authorization cards.

Ryan Bennet, chairman of the board of the Arkansas chapter of the ABC, said the proposed legislation would allow union organizers to make certain promises to employees to convince them to sign the cards

“There would be nobody to regulate, and nobody to say whether or not the truth is being told,” he said. “If the private ballot is good enough for the president of the United States, it should be good enough for every employee.”