Employee Free Choice Act

A pro-business bus tour organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will come to Portland Thursday to promote its opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act.

The EFCA has emerged as a major issue for third-party business and labor interests both locally and nationally. The legislation seeks to make it make it easier for unions to organize by requiring that they be recognized if a majority of the potential collective bargaining units sign an authorization card.

Opponents criticize the act argue that the new system would take away the private ballot in the workplace, which proponents say is not true. Under the current system – which will still be an option if the law is enacted – organizers must get 30 percent of the potential unit to sign authorization cards and then an election is held.

The bus will register voters from 12 to 2 p.m. Thursday at Monument Square. A media briefing is planned at 11.

There’s a lot of spin kicking around about the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the “card-check” legislation. PolitickerME will attempt to break the bill down to determine what it really does.

The bill adds another means for unions to organize, designed to circumvent some of the problems workers frequently encounter in the process.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is the sponsor of the House version, and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) sponsors the Senate version. Both U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud (D-East Millinocket) and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland) are cosponsors.

The bill passed in the House last year, but was filibustered in the Senate.

Ed Gorham, president of Maine’s chapter of the AFL-CIO, had one word to describe Employee Freedom’s ads: Despicable.

“We appreciate the concern of the group that Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola is financing,” Gorham said. “But they’ve never been friends of working people.”

The argument is over the Employee Free Choice Act, which expands the options for unions to organize. Employee Freedon, the group working against the legislation, argues that the new option -- a majority sign-up -- does not include an election in the workplace, yielding an undemocratic process and opening the doors for intimidation.

At a recent community dinner in Saco, U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen (D-Portland) was asked about attack ads targeting him for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act. See the below video for his response.

The EFCA seeks to make it easier for workers to unionize by requiring that employers recognize them if organizers get a majority of the bargaining unit to sign authorization cards.

Incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) has said she opposes the bill because it takes away the private ballot for workers.

“She strongly supports the right for workers to form unions,” Campaign manager Steve Abbott told PolitickerME in June, when the issue first emerged. The bill shows “A clear difference between the two candidates.”

Note: PolitickerME received further information and comments from several sources after Wednesday’s story was posted about an ad campaign opposing candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act.

While Sen. Susan Collins agrees with the message in several ads that attack opponent and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act, she doesn’t believe such ads have a place in Maine politics, a spokesman for her campaign said Wednesday.

Allen’s campaign has called on Collins to denounce the ads. Kevin Kelley, spokesman for Collins, said the Senator does denounce this ad campaign with a blanket denouncement of all ads produced independently of the campaigns.

“Senator Collins has always denounced third party ads,” Kelley said.

Carol Andrews, spokeswoman for Allen, released a statement Wednesday criticizing Collins for not speaking up about the ads.

In a new ad, a mob boss from the Sopranos makes a guest appearance with cardboard cutouts of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Bangor) and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Portland), who is challenging Collins.

The ad is part of a campaign opposing candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation intended to make it easier for workers to organize by eliminating the requirement of the private ballot.

Collins opposes the bill. Allen is a co-sponsor, along with Rep. Mike Michaud (D-East Millinocket).

The Employee Freedom Action Committee has launched a campaign against U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

Thursday a full page ad appeared in several daily newspapers slamming Allen for his support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The act is designed to make it easier for worker groups to unionize and has drawn fire from certain labor groups such as EFAC.

The bill’s opponents refer to it as the “card-check” legislation.

A group calling itself the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is touting a new poll that shows Susan Collins (R) with a 23 point lead over her expected rival Tom Allen (D)