HR: EFCA Debate Re-Ignites

According to a detailed article in Employee Benefit News (www.benefitnews.com), June, 2009, the battle over the Employer Free Choice Act is re-igniting with passage in some form expected by the end of the year.

The article is very good in that it provides great detail on the positions of both management and labor and provides extensive information on how a company should be responding to the issues. According to the article there is a podcast available on the site -- as of June 1, it wasn't there (yet?). I'll update this if it becomes available.

Comment: This is considered by many to be the HR issue of the year -- perhaps even bigger than health care reform. Experts have widely varying opinions on what it will do to the rate of unionization -- and what it will do to the economy. Experts are also debating which issue is the more important one: the "authorization card" vote or the "manadatory arbitration." On the authorization issue, experts debate from it having absolutely zero impact on job creation to another expert stating it will cost the economy 1,5 million jobs lost in the first year.

This is a hotly debated issue that requires awareness and possible responses from all serious HR professionals -- whether current unionized, pro-union, or pro-union free. The implications will be significant from so many different levels.