By Joe Hoshaw
Staff Writer

The Employee Free Choice Act has been stalled in Congress for more than a year now, and unions throughout Michigan are redoubling their efforts to bring attention to that fact heading into the fall election season.

Nearly 200 members from a broad cross section of labor organizations descended on the McNamara Federal Building July 23 for the first of what may be a series of awareness-building exercises to be staged between now and the November Presidential Election, which also will choose the representatives to the 111th U.S. Congress.

"This is our first rally," said Mark Bott, president of Plumbers Local 98 in Detroit. "We intend to possibly incorporate this theme into the Labor Day Parade and hopefully have a mass rally in mid-October in Detroit."

The union leaders and members picketed for about two hours along Michigan Avenue in the shadow of the 27-story building, the region's most recognizable U.S. government icon.

"We have people here from all over the state," said Bott, who also serves as lead organizer for the mechanical pipe trades. "We were hoping that we would bring to the forefront the problem union employees have in their organizing efforts."

Added Michigan Building and Construction Trades CEO Patrick Devlin: "It was a nice turnout, and I think it's important we show the public that unions are still out here, fighting for workers' rights."

The Employee Free Choice Act is viewed by unions as a necessary step to level the playing field with employers - who they believe have an unfair advantage in their abilities to squelch organizing efforts under current labor law as enforced by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board.

"What we feel is the citizens in this country don't understand how difficult it is today for a union in the current environment," Bott said. "During the last seven years the Bush Administration appointees to the National Labor Relations Board have trampled on employee rights and through their decisions the board has become an advocate for employers rather than employees."

Union leaders believe the EFCA, if passed by Congress and signed by the president, would create a fairer more efficient system through which employees could form, join or assist labor unions, while providing mandatory penalties for employers engaging in unfair labor practices during organizing campaigns.

The way the law currently reads, the NLRB will certify a union as the exclusive representative of employees if it is elected by either a majority signature drive, a card-check process, or by an NLRB-sanctioned secret-ballot election, which is held if more than 30 percent of employees sign statements requesting union representation.

The EFCA would eliminate the secret ballot option for employers when a majority of workers have signed union cards and there is no evidence of illegal coercion.

The proposed law would also place a 90-day time limit for the union and the company to reach terms on an initial contract. If no agreement is reached at that point, either side can request mediation. If 30 days of mediation doesn't produce a contract, binding arbitration could be invoked.

The Act also defines terms for financial compensation to employees who are determined to have been unlawfully fired for supporting a union organizing effort.

In March 2007, the Act handily passed in the U.S. House (241-185), but was bottled up in the Senate two months later when a procedural vote to end debate and send the bill to the floor for a final vote on passage failed by nine votes.

There is no expectation that the bill will see new life during the waning months of the 110th Congress and the Bush Administration.

"We feel to fix this problem we need the new president to immediately refill the vacancies of the current (NLRB) board and to support the Employee Free Choice Act," Bott said.

ABOUT 200 people picketed the federal McNamara building in Detroit on July 23, urging support for the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Photo by Joe Hoshaw