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Former Union Organizers Speak Out

The Labor Relations Institute posted snippets of video online that shows former union organizers speaking out about the tactics and techniques they have used to get employees to sign union authorization cards (”card check”). I believe these are excerpts from longer videos which LRI produces and sells that can be shown to employee populations for [...]

Comics Simplify Complex Concepts

Nothing strikes me as more complex and arcane than the National Labor Relations Board process for holding an election (”secret ballot vote”). Fraught with rules, exceptions and technicalities, it’s one of those things that takes a while to understand. At least that’s true for me, as a communication professional who is not an attorney.
So, it [...]

Choice or Who Chooses?

In the last post, I started to try and unravel the dispute about “choice.” Various pro-business groups and media are saying that the secret ballot election would go away under EFCA, and that workers would not have a choice.
Technically, that appears to be false. What changes is who gets to make the choice. Who chooses [...]

Union Proponents Take Message to Airwaves

Last night, while watching Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN, I saw a television commercial by proponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). If memory serves, this commercial has run before. Now that EFCA has been introduced into Congress, expect to see this campaign escalate.

Video Link
SCRIPT:
SCREEN: Headline: Frantic Day on Wall Street as Banks Fail [...]

Paycheck Stuffer examples from ABC

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has come out swinging against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The group has an entire Web page of resources devoted to the topic, including this example paycheck stuffer with language you could “borrow:”

Text:

The so-called “employee Free Choice Act” or “card check” legislation would strip away the rights of [...]

Social Media & Unions: Labor’s clone of “Facebook”

Labor has cloned its own fledgling Facebook-style social media site:
UnionBook is the social networking site for trade unionists.  Unlike other social networks such as MySpace, FaceBook and Bebo, UnionBook is advertising-free, respects your privacy and is specifically designed to serve the trade union movement.  Use it to meet up with friends online, post comments to [...]

SEIU pro-EFCA campaign on YouTube

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) recently posted a video on You Tube in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). It mocks the horror CEOs and other pro-business types are said to harbor regarding the proposed legislation.
According to CEOs and their front groups, the fabric of our nation may well fall apart, all [...]

Is Today the Day that EFCA Launches?

After several false starts, current buzz suggests that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) will be introduced into Congress later today. My ears perked up on Sunday when the topic arose on This Week with George Stephanopoulos - one of the first mentions on a Sunday morning talk news show in quite some time.
Then yesterday, [...]

Free Webcast about EFCA for Management

Two days ago, I participated in a Webcast about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that was simply brilliant. It offered a broad perspective on the proposed law - including voices from the various disciplines of politics, business, legal, labor relations and PR.
Someone whose work I admire spoke, and that’s what attracted me. Phillip B. [...]

What Communicators Need to Know About EFCA

If a communicator is not tuned into labor relations issues, the big change that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) represents may not be immediately apparent. With apologies to my international peers, this topic is only relevant for practitioners in America because the legislation will apply exclusively to U.S. labor law.
Under EFCA, HR & employee [...]

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