Danger! EFCA is approaching fast!

There was once a time when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) required a fair and confidential election before allowing a union to represent your employees.  Soon these elections will be a relic of the past.

President-Elect Obama co-sponsored a bill allowing unions to claim victory simply by getting employees to sign a card requesting representation.  And he has promised to sign it into law once he gets into the White House.

Currently, a union must obtain signed cards from 30% of the employee body to demand an election.  EFCA will change that.  Soon, they will need nothing more than signatures from 50% plus one employees.  Once obtained, unionization is mandatory and your employees do not have the ability to vote in a free and confidential election.

Unionized organizations historically struggle to maintain a reasonable bottom line.  Union contracts promote mediocrity in performance, limit a business owner’s right to manage the company, and add expensive bureaucracy to daily business practices.

Unions notoriously use lies and strong arm tactics to get these cards signed.  Employees would traditionally sign them to get the requesting representative to stop bothering them, and then vote against the union in secret ballot.  But with the removal of the secret ballot proposed by EFCA, unionization is just a few signatures away.

The best way to avoid unionization is to become your employee’s best advocate. Learn to trust them and help them trust you.  But this is easier said than done.  I began my HR career by fighting unions, so I know that the employee’s attempt to organize is usually in response to management that does not have insight.  It is, I believe, an organizational temper tantrum.

It’s easiest - and now imperative - to fight unionization before your employees start to talk about it.  Be sure to contact me for more information: 973-256-3757.

View my blog, http://blog.fullspectrumhr.com, or visit my website, www.fullspectrumhr.com for more information.