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 * The Bill
 * CoSponsors
 * Media
 * Updates
 * Contact
 * Donate


WHAT DO AMERICANS THINK?

According to national polling, over 65 percent of Americans support the ERA’s
key provisions.

See Polling


DUES FOR POLITICS

Since 2010, union officials have spent over $1 billion in member dues on
left-wing political advocacy — without employees’ permission.

Learn More


WHAT DOES THE ERA ACCOMPLISH?





1)  SECRET BALLOT ELECTIONS

Guarantee that a majority of all employees have a right to a secret paper ballot
election. Prevents pressuring an employer to deny a secret ballot election.
What it does:

Guarantee that a majority of all employees have a right to a secret paper ballot
election. Prevents pressuring an employer to deny a secret ballot election.

Support:

70% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

76% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

According to data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in 38% of all
union recognitions in 2009, the latest year for which data is available, unions
bypassed secret ballot elections and instead used card checks to unionize
employees. Specifically, the NLRB reports that unions won 794 single-union
representation elections. During that period, the NLRB recorded 485 notices of
card check union recognition.

Background:

Currently, unions can bypass secret ballot elections by using paid labor
organizers to persuade workers to sign “card check” agreements authorizing union
representation. Following that, they can pressure companies to “voluntarily”
accept a card check recognition of the union. Unions’ pressure tactics run from
paid picketers to political fights to brand attacks and much more. Union front
groups are common, as are bogus attacks by other community groups on the union’s
payroll.

Unions’ overall modus operandi is to blackmail a business by escalating pressure
tactics until it capitulates to the card check. The process is unregulated, and
anecdotal evidence suggests that signed agreement cards are often obtained
through deception, coercion, and intimidation of employees.

By requiring a federally supervised secret ballot election, unions and employers
could not agree to deny employees the right to vote in private.

 

Related Ads:



“Classroom Elections”

“Super Bowl Toilet Commercial”

See details


2)  UNION DECERTIFICATION

Protects employees who have lost confidence in their union and are working with
their employer to remove the union from having their wishes overturned by the
union's legal challenges.
What it does:

Protects employees who have lost confidence in their union and are working with
their employer to remove the union from having their wishes overturned by the
union’s legal challenges.

Support:

65% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

65% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Union membership hit its peak in 1954, when nearly 30 percent of the workforce
was unionized (both private and public-sector). Since then, private-sector union
membership has dropped to today’s record low of 6.6 percent. Because union
decertification is difficult, a current workplace unionized in the 1950s or
1960s is almost assuredly still unionized today. Once a workplace is unionized
it is nearly impossible for employees to decertify a union.

Background:

The ERA would codify the Johnson Controls 2019 NLRB ruling. The new standard
overrules prior precedent that permitted a union to defeat an employer’s
announced intent to withdraw recognition in an unfair labor practice proceeding,
by presenting evidence that the union reacquired majority status in the period
between the employer’s anticipatory notice of withdrawal and actual withdrawal.
Under this provision, evidence of a union’s actual loss of majority support, if
received by an employer within 90 days prior to contract expiration,
conclusively rebuts a union’s presumptive continuing majority status when the
contract expires.

Related Ads:



“Repair Shop”

See details


3)  POLITICAL PROTECTION

Require unions to receive opt-in permission from each member to use his or her
union dues for purposes other than collective bargaining (e.g., political
support).
What it does:

Require unions to receive opt-in permission from each member to use his or her
union dues for purposes other than collective bargaining (e.g., political
support).

Support:

76% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

76% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Exit polls from 2016 demonstrate that 43 percent of union households voted
Republican, yet 86 percent percent of union political support went to Democratic
candidates. There is a disconnect between the unions’ political agenda and their
members’ personal ideology.

Background:

Currently, labor law allows unions to deduct money for supporting political
campaigns from an employee’s paycheck without obtaining prior approval. Only by
following the often onerous procedure to demand a refund of partial dues or by
resigning from a union can employees guarantee that their money will not support
candidates or a political party. The process is often overly complicated,
completely unregulated, and rife with intimidation. By requiring that union
members opt-in rather than having to pursue a refund of dues, employee rights
will be better protected.

Some states have passed paycheck protection laws for their public sector state
and local employees (who are not covered by federal labor law). The Employee
Rights Act’s paycheck provision would institute protection for private sector
workers in the United States.

Related Ads:



“Break Room”

See details


4)  MAJORITY VOTE OF ALL EMPLOYEES

Changes the majority level in certification elections from a majority of present
voters to a majority of all affected employees.
What it does:

Changes the majority level in certification elections from a majority of present
voters to a majority of all affected employees.

Support:

50% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

61% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Unionization is an important decision that affects all employees in the
workplace, yet current law allows the union to take hold even if some of those
employees can’t participate. Some units have been organized with less than half
of affected voters turning out.

Background:

Existing National Labor Relations Board procedures do not set a minimum voter
turnout or “quorum” level for determining if a unionization vote is valid. This
enables a union to win and be organized without showing the support of a
majority of the bargaining unit in an election if turnout is very low. The ERA
would stipulate that a union could only be organized with a showing by secret
ballot that a majority of the entire bargaining unit supported the union. This
parallels the provisions of some state constitutions which require a higher
threshold than a simple majority to amend the state constitution.

See details


5)  EMPLOYEE PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

Gives employees the right to opt out of having their personal information shared
with a union during an organizing campaign.
What it does:

Gives employees the right to opt out of having their personal information shared
with a union during an organizing campaign.

Support:

79% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

79% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

In 1969 the National Labor Relations Board ruled that an employer must turn over
employees’ personal contact information within seven days of ordering a union
formation election. In some circumstances, employees have reported that labor
union organizers have used the information to visit employees at their homes and
pressure them to vote for the union.

Background:

There is currently no provision for employees to prevent their personal
information from being disclosed to the National Labor Relations Board and the
union that seeks to represent them. Offering employees the option to not
disclose their private information will allow people who want to be left alone
that right, just like the federal “Do Not Call” registry.

See details


6)  DECERTIFICATION COERCION PREVENTION

Strengthen the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit unions from intimidating
or coercing employees from exercising their rights, including their right to
decertify the union.
What it does:

Strengthen the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit unions from intimidating
or coercing employees from exercising their rights, including their right to
decertify the union.

Support:

65% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

65% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Data from the NLRB indicates that just one in four decertification attempts are
successful. Only half are even put up for a vote.

Background:

Unions often use intimidation and coercion to dissuade employees from signing
decertification petitions. Just as there are rules barring employers from firing
or disciplining employees who are attempting to organize a workplace, the same
should apply to protect union members trying to decertify their union.

See details


7)  SECRET BALLOT STRIKE VOTE

Ensure that a majority of all employees in the bargaining unit have the right to
a secret ballot vote before union leaders can declare a strike.
What it does:

Ensure that a majority of all employees in the bargaining unit have the right to
a secret ballot vote before union leaders can declare a strike.

Support:

71% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

76% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

The rules on whether or not unions have to consult their membership before
calling a strike vary by each organization’s constitution. There is no federal
standard that requires secret ballot majority support from union membership
before a strike can be declared.

Background:

Strikes can pose significant hardships for employees as union strike funds
usually compensate members for far less than 50 percent of the wages lost during
a strike (10-20 percent is most common). In order to collect that fraction of
their pay, they are often required to participate in a picket line. The
potential loss of pay and hardship suffered warrants uncoerced input from
affected employees before any strikes are called.

See details


8)  CRIMINALIZED UNION THREATS

Forbid unions from using violence, or threats thereof, in an effort to coerce
employees.
What it does:

Forbid unions from using violence, or threats thereof, in an effort to coerce
employees.

Support:

81% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

84% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

In the last five years, the NLRB has received 155 complaints of union violence.
Although it is not widespread, the use of violence or threats to intimidate
employees in the exercise of a federal statute should be criminalized at the
federal level.

Background:

This would effectively criminalize many of the more aggressive union tactics
that organizers use to unethically pressure employees into union membership
against their will.

 

See details


9)  PROTECTIONS FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES

Give more Americans the opportunity to realize their dream of starting their own
business.
What it does:

Give more Americans the opportunity to realize their dream of starting their own
business.

Support:

65% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

64% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Labor unions have attempted to eliminate the franchise model by asserting that
businesses should be held liable for other businesses, even if those businesses
are not under their direct control. This has created confusion for employers and
employees alike, and threatened the franchise model – a popular pathway to small
business ownership for so many Americans.

Background:

The ERA includes protections from the Save Local Business Act that codify the
longstanding and common sense precedent that preserves the path to owning one’s
own business for thousands of Americans. This provision provides clarity on the
joint-employer standard by stating that businesses should not be held liable for
other businesses that are not under their control.

See details


10)  GIG WORKER BENEFITS

Allows companies to extend benefits to independent contractors without the
workers having to abandon their flexibility.
What it does:

Allows companies to extend benefits to independent contractors without the
workers having to abandon their flexibility.

Support:

64% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

67% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

Why:

Millions of Americans enjoy the flexibility of being an independent contractor,
but companies that use contractors are restricted in the benefits they can
offer.

Background:

The ERA would permit companies to offer benefits such as retirement incentives
to independent contractors without forcing them into the employer-employee
relationship. It also includes the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, a subsection
that updates the law to keep the
definition of an “employee” in line with the common-law definition used by
numerous state statutes and in recent Supreme Court rulings.

See details


11)  NLRA REFORM

Provide necessary structural reforms to America’s labor laws to address issues
that have long been ignored by our unchanging labor code.
What it does:

Provide necessary structural reforms to America’s labor laws to address issues
that have long been ignored by our unchanging labor code.

Support:

76% of all households were strongly/somewhat supportive.

81% of union households were strongly/somewhat supportive.
*polling is specific to a rule requiring unions to publish additional
information about their finances.

Why:

The National Labor Relations Act currently lacks several provisions that would
protect both employees and employers from coercive union tactics, as well as
provide more transparency into union operations.

Background:

The ERA includes the Truth in Employment Act, which protects small businesses
and employees from the coercive union tactic known as “salting.” The ERA also
codifies a 2020 rule requiring unions to adhere to enhanced reporting under the
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 on T-1 trusts offering
workers further transparency into their union’s operations.

See details


THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS!

The following organizations have endorsed the Employee Rights Act:

© 2022 Center for Union Facts