The Employee Free Choice Act: Playing the Union Card

By David M. Smith, PhD, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Economics

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Can’t see the above video? Click this link to watch or you can read the transcript.

In this video interview, David M. Smith, PhD, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Economics at the Graziadio School of Business and Management discusses the impact the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would have on employers, unions, and the workforce.

The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409, S. 560) is a pending piece of federal legislation that aims to “amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an easier system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes.” It seeks to make collective bargaining easier for employees, guarantee them contracts, and also reform the existing authorization forms process, or “card-check,” by taking away the right of employers to decide whether to use a card-check or a secret-ballot election and instead placing that decision in the hands of employees.

Questions for Dr. Smith:

1. Why is the proposed Employee Free Choice Act is a bad idea?
2. What improvements would you suggest to the Act?
3. What role should workers play in improving California’s economy?
4. How should managers respond to the EFCA?
5. What can we expect if the Act is passed?

Related in the GBR

The Cost of Lost Data by David M. Smith, PhD

What You Need to Know About the Future by Linnea B. McCord, JD, MBA

Bring Happiness to Work! by Charles D. Kerns, PhD

Topic: Business Law, Corp Governance, In the News, Interviews, Management, Public Policy, Videos
Tags: efca, Employee Free Choice Act, labor organizations, national labor relations act, nlra, Unions