Senate Drops EFCA's Card Check Provision

• LeeAnn Maton
• July 20, 2009

Employers scored a victory on Capital Hill last when senators revising the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) dropped the bill's fiercely-debated card-check provision. A revised bill will instead require shorter unionization campaigns and faster elections, the New York Times reports.

Card check -- a measure some moderate Democrats in the Senate opposed as "undemocratic" -- would have required employers to recognize a union once a majority of workers signed cards favoring unionization, replacing the secret-ballot system currently used.

The revised bill will likely require that once 30 percent of workers sign cards indicating they favor a union, union elections must take place within five to 10 days. According to the article, senators are also considering adding other measures to benefit labor, including giving union organizers access to company property and prohibiting employers from requiring workers to attend "anti-union meetings."

AGC of America and other business industry leaders have strenuously opposed the legislation and the card check provision in particular, while labor unions have strongly supported it. Final details of the EFCA are still being debated, and the legislation is expected to go to a vote in September.