Employee Free Choice Act

US Congressmen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and George Miller (D-California) have introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) also known as "Card Check."   Under this proposed legislation, once union organizers had obtained the signatures of a majority of a proposed bargaining unit, they could organize it and eliminate the employee's right to a secret ballot on whether to unionize.  Current law says that once 30% of a bargaining unit signs cards, a federally supervised election can be held, but with a secret ballot.  Under this proposal, workers would lose the ability to cast secret ballots which many business leaders believe will lead to coercion by the unions.  In a recent BusinessWeek article, Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus said most American CEOs are unaware of a "planned hostile takeover of their human resources." Business groups are gearing up to oppose this legislation.  For more information go to www.workforcefreedomillinois.com to see information provided by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce on this issue.