The possible election of Barack Obama as president combined with union and Democratic legislators backing The Employee Free Choice Act will mean a storm of new organizing efforts that will result in dramatically increasing the number of union members.
For years, union membership has been steadily declining: latest figures show that approximately 7.5% of private sector workers are union members.
Under the National Labor Relations Act, employers, unions, and workers had to hold secret ballot elections to decide if workers would join a union.
Under The Employee Free Choice Act, however, union organizers simply have to get workers to sign cards (known as Card Checks) stating that they want to join a specific union. Organizers are free to advocate and proselytize on the part of unions and will easily get a majority of signatures. Once 50% of workers sign cards, employers will be compelled to accept union representation for 100% of their workers. No elections need to be held.
So far, the Act has gone no place, because President Bush is against its passage; however, if Barack Obama is elected president and the Democrats maintain their union-backed majority in both houses of Congress, then the Employee Free Choice Act will become law. Its passage will mean dramatically higher labor costs, which will be particularly onerous during this period of slow economic growth and fierce international competition.
Corporate America needs to have an effective proactive strategic action plan in place to deal with the coming perfect storm.
