Daily Koz: Please Help Me Defend the EFCA

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/18/710071/-Please-Help-Me-Defend-the-EFCA

by Eclectablog
Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 09:12:19 AM PDT

I get emails from a group called Coatings Connect which describes itself as "the online headquarters of the National Paint & Coatings Association’s grassroots effort." The NPCA is the national industry trade group for the coatings industry.

Yesterday I received an email which grossly mischaracterizes the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and urges members to contact Congress to fight it.

I need your help to rebut their slanted view of the EFCA if I am given the chance to.

Their email and more background on Coatings Connect after the fold.

* Eclectablog's diary :: ::
*

Here's the email I received:

Dear NPCA/Coatings Connect Member:

The so-called "Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)" has once again been introduced in Congress. The EFCA would have a significant impact on the privacy of individual employees and whether non-union companies become unionized.
Currently, during union organizing efforts, employees are asked to sign "authorization cards" -- the "card check" process -- indicating whether they would favor having a secret ballot election to determine whether the company should "go union." The proposed Act would replace this by allowing the union to organize if a majority of employees simply signed authorization cards! NO SECRET-BALLOT ELECTION NEED BE HELD!.

Furthermore, there is a provision that should be of great concern to employees: employees' signatures are made public to the employer, the union organizers and co-workers. Thus, the EFCA would trade federally supervised private ballot elections for a "card check" process that eliminates the privacy of an individual worker's decision regarding the union. One can only imagine the intense pressure that will be exercised on individual employees -- from both the union and management -- if the EFCA is allowed to become law!

President Obama has indicated support for this union-driven legislation. There are 223 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives (only 218 needed to pass the bill!) and 40 co-sponsors in the Senate (50 required for passage, 60 for "cloture").

However, despite the above numbers, passage of the EFCA is not a sure thing. Industry associations are making a strong effort to defeat the bill. As NPCA members, your voices will be heard and could well make a real difference!

The EFCA could come up for a vote at any time. It is critical that you contact your members of Congress immediately. There is an attached sample letter to Congress that you can use or edit, or you can write your own letter. The CoatingsConnect system automatically matches registrants with their Senators and Representatives. If you have not yet registered, or to link to Action Alert, please go to www.CoatingsConnect.org. It takes about three minutes to register.

Thank you for helping us try to defeat this bad legislation.

Questions? Contact NPCA's David Lloyd at email address withheld by Eclectablog.


FULL story at link.