Legislation that would allow organizers to unionize workplaces without secret-ballot elections has the potential to shift the balance of power a workplaces, a fact that's being highlighted in Maine this summer through television ads and other marketing initiatives.
Currently, employers can require secret-ballot elections. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, sometimes referred to as the "card-check" bill, employees could unionize as soon as they got a majority of workers to sign cards in favor of a union.
Supporters say the legislation would end what they call the unfair advantage of employers to dictate the method of deciding whether workers can unionize. Opponents say the change would take away workers' right to an anonymous vote.
Today, a rally will be held in Monument Square in Portland from noon to 2 p.m. to protest the legislation, part of a cross-country series of rallies and voter registration drives by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Labor representatives, meanwhile, are trying to collect 1 million signatures nationally on a petition in favor of the bill.
Both labor officials and industry representatives claim that their primary interest is to protect workers from undue coercion or intimidation from the other side.
Employers require elections to buy time for anti-union efforts that are aimed at intimidating workers, said Stewart Acuff, assistant to the president of the AFL-CIO and the chief spokesman on the legislation. "It's not a right if you are afraid to exercise it," he said.
By contrast, a representative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said labor intimidates workers even now, and would do so even more under the proposed law.
"People sign cards to just get the union organizer off their back," said Glenn Spencer, executive director of the U.S. Chamber's Workforce Freedom Initiative. "We think workers are smart enough to figure out on their own if they want to belong to a union."
Spencer, who will speak at the Monument Square rally, said educating Mainers on the issue is particularly important to the U.S. Chamber because Maine is one of several targeted states. It has a U.S. Senate race with opponents on different sides of the issue.
The bill itself has been shelved for this congressional session, but remains a hot election-year topic.
LEGISLATION LINKED TO ELECTIONS
In Maine, ads aired earlier this month that tied the legislation to the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Susan Collins, who opposes the legislation, and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who supports it.
Both campaigns condemned the television ads, which feature actor Vince Curatola as an apparent labor-union boss. Curatola played mafia member John "Johnny Sac" Sacramoni on the HBO television series "The Sopranos."
The legislation also has been raised in connection with the presidential race.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. held mandatory meetings with store managers and department supervisors to warn that if Democrats win in November, the party likely will push through the Employee Free Choice Act.
Sen. Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of the legislation, while Sen. John McCain opposes it.
Today, when a union organizing effort is under way, workers are asked to sign cards seeking a union.
At that point, one of two things can happen: An employer can accept the cards and recognize the union, or it can require an election.
The vast majority of businesses require elections.
Acuff's position is that requiring an election is unfair to organizers and potential union members because employers use that time to "intimidate and harass" the workers and undertake anti-union activities, such as hiring consultants and coaching managers on how to oppose the effort.
WORKERS PRESSED FROM ALL SIDES
In 2007, half of all initial elections were conducted within 39 days...
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