NRF urges rejection of 'card-check' legislation

WASHINGTON The National Retail Federation urged Congress to reject “card-check” legislation introduced in the House and Senate that would effectively take away workers’ right to a secret ballot in union organizing elections.

“Secret ballot elections are a cornerstone of American democracy,” NRF VP government and political affairs Rob Green said. “Voters have a secret ballot when they go to the polls on Election Day, Congress has a secret ballot when lawmakers choose the leaders of the House and Senate, and we believe workers deserve a secret ballot when they choose whether to be represented by a union. We must not allow this fundamental right to be taken away.”

The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced on March 10 by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

EFCA would eliminate the decades-old National Labor Relations Act requirement that union representation be decided in secret ballot elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board. Instead, the NLRB would be required to recognize a union if presented with signed authorization cards from a majority of workers. Under the legislation, union organizers – not the federal government – would oversee the process, effectively eliminating the employer from the election process. NRF is concerned because there are many examples where card check elections have been challenged on the basis of coercion, misrepresentation, forgery, fraud, peer pressure and promised benefits.