Backgrounder posted April 23, 2007 by James Sherk, Paul Kersey
How the Employee Free Choice Act Takes Away Workers' Rights
Revised and updated March 4, 2009
Does a ballot cast in private or a card signed in public better reveal a worker’s true preference about whether to join a union? A private vote is the obvious answer, but organized labor has nonetheless made the misleadingly named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, H.R. 800) its highest legislative priority.
Recently, unions…
WebMemo posted March 5, 2007 by Paul Kersey, James Sherk
Binding Arbitration for Unions Endangers Competitiveness andInnovation
While it is widely known that the Employee Free Choice Act
(EFCA, H.R. 800) would strip workers of their right to vote in
private on joining a union, the bill contains an equally harmful
provision that has attracted much less attention. EFCA would allow
unions to send negotiations on their first contract with an
employer to binding arbitration after 90 days. This…
WebMemo posted March 5, 2007 by Paul Kersey, James Sherk
Binding Arbitration: A Bad Deal for Workers
Under the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, H.R. 800), if a union
and management cannot agree to terms on the first contract after a
union is recognized, either side could send the dispute into
binding arbitration. This means that both workers and management
must accept what is, at bottom, an arbitrator's educated guess at
what a fair and prudent contract might be.…
WebMemo posted March 1, 2007 by Paul Kersey, James Sherk
Interest Arbitration: Risky for Unions and Employers
A steady decline in union membership has led union organizers
and sympathetic politicians to introduce "labor reform" legislation
designed to make it easier for unions to gain representation rights
over more workers without becoming more accountable to those
workers. The main labor reform bill before Congress, the Employee
Free Choice Act (H.R. 800), contains two…
WebMemo posted December 21, 2004 by Paul Kersey
Medical Leave Regulations Should Reflect Intent Behind FMLA
The Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides that covered workers are
entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newly
born or adopted children, tend to ailing relatives, or recuperate
from poor health or injuries. Following a worker's FMLA leave, his
or her employer must restore the worker to his or her old job or a
new position with…
WebMemo posted December 3, 2004 by Paul Kersey
After Overtime, Now What?
One of the most important stories lost in the last-minute rush
to pass a budget last month was what Congress did not do: In spite
of constant pressure from organized labor, Congress did not
overturn new overtime regulations that took effect last August.
Various proposals to block the new rules, which cover the so-called
white-collar exemptions from the Fair Labor…
Executive Memorandum posted November 12, 2004 by Paul Kersey
Congress Should Protect Secret-Ballot Union Representation Elections
Unions exist to allow workers to present a
united front to their employers and to protect the economic
interests of the workers they represent. For this reason, labor law
explicitly gives workers the right to support or not to support a
union, prohibits "company unions," and insists that a union
demonstrate it has the support of a majority of workers in…
Backgrounder posted August 16, 2004 by Paul Kersey
Modernizing Overtime Regulations to Benefit Employers and Employees
Much
controversy surrounds the U.S. Department of Labor's decision to
update regulations governing "white-collar" exemptions from the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Labor union officials have
interpreted the new regulations as the end of overtime pay for
millions of workers. In reality, however, relatively few workers
are likely to lose overtime pay under the new…
WebMemo posted July 14, 2004 by Paul Kersey
Closer Examination, Fewer Changes: A Rebuttal of EPI's White CollarExemption Analysis
Under the Fair
Labor Standards Act, the Department of Labor (DOL) has the
responsibility to set the rules that determine which workers
qualify as executive, administrative, and professional employees
who are exempted from the Act and its requirement of
time-and-a-half overtime pay. On April 23, 2004, DOL issued a final
regulation updating these definitions. The…
WebMemo posted May 5, 2004 by Paul Kersey
Ready to Compete: The Link Between Productivity, Jobs, and Wages
Nearly lost in the
debate over job creation has been the surge of productivity that
has taken place over the last two years. Americans workers are
producing more goods per hour of work and boosting their own
incomes in the process. Increased productivity also means that
Americans are in a better position to gain-not lose-in the…