Employee Free Choice Act Compromise?

According to the Washington Post, chief executives from three companies generally regarded as progressive, Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods, are proposing a compromise solution to the deep divide between supporters and opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This is a first effort to change a bill that, in its present form, will surely result in a Congressional bloodbath at a time when enough Congressional blood has been shed.

Under this proposal, the provision allowing workers to form a union if a majority sign pro-union cards without having a secret ballot election would be eliminated. Also eliminated would be the provision that requires mandatory arbitration if an employer and a union fail to enter into a collective bargaining agreement within 120 days.

Tough penalties would remain in EFCA for employers that retaliate against workers trying to organize a union and that refuse to engage in collective bargaining negotiations after a union has been recognized by a majority of workers. Penalties would be added for union violations, and a provision would be added to make it easier for employers to decertify a union.

To address labor’s concerns that employers can now delay an election and use the time to unduly pressure employees, a fixed time would be set within which the election must be held. Finally, under the proposed compromise, unions would be given equal access to workers before elections. For example, union organizers could address workers on a lunch break in the company cafeteria just as management can.

Neither hard core business advocates nor hard core labor leaders will be happy with this compromise. However, it seems increasingly likely that there must be some sort of compromise if EFCA is to become law. This particular compromise may not survive, but it’s a start.