Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) News Room » Employee Free Choice Act: The Teamsters Want You!

Employee Free Choice Act: The Teamsters Want You!

The Employee Free Choice Act may be stalled, but that’s not stopping the Teamsters. On Monday they posted an “all hands on deck” memo seeking 1,000 new organizers to help them deal with the “deluge” of organizing requests they expect after EFCA passes.

Now that Al Franken will be seated as the 60th Senator in the Democratic caucus next week, it is likely we will see a major push by labor’s supporters to pass some sort of EFCA-derivative legislation in the next several weeks. Senator Harkin has threatened to call for a vote on something (either the current version of EFCA or “the son of EFCA”) right after the 4th of July recess.

Many companies have been sitting on the fence, waiting to see what the actual law is going to provide. Others are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Either way, events are likely to happen rapidly over the next month. Don’t expect a long debate on this legislation… whatever debate is going to happen has been happening between Senator Harkin and Specter. When they put this thing up for a vote – whatever form it finally takes – it will happen quckly. So stay tuned.

Tags: Employee Free Choice Act, franken, harkin, specter, teamsters

Employee Free Choice Act | admin | July 2, 2009 5:49 am

13 Comments

By j armstrong, July 2, 2009 @ 12:56 pm

would be interested in the position
By Leticia, July 2, 2009 @ 1:45 pm

this is the work of the president you elected….here we go.
By dale smith, July 2, 2009 @ 3:56 pm

i belong to a union that in the last 2 years has not helped me find employment.i have 26 vested years ,which means i have a pension when i get old.Iwonder in these times that certain groups in our society would like everyone to have to work until they die,kinda like the middle ages.no pensions ,no 401s,no nothing,only for the select few who own the company.look at europe who is so vastly superior to our social structure its almost ajoke,what those stupid americans will think up next to screw their own people.lifetime medical,pensions and social security come first in europe ,not short term profits like the us does.its ok maybe you people in texas,oklahoma ,the deep south dont need these things.maybe you guys are like the south was 150 years ago before the union army smashed there guts in.look around how greed has destroyed this country and hang your head that the rest of the world thinks were stupid
By Festus Markus, July 5, 2009 @ 4:16 am

Lets start with removing the suspicious Al Franken and weirdo Specter from Senate – Since when does “activism have any damned thing to do with the responsibility that is associated with Senatorial debate? That is why REAL elected officials do not concern themselves with lobbies and unions – Unions really do suck no matter what you want to sound like. So we defeat big labor – as you put it – and what remains? Nothing? no jobs. Big Labor provides us with the job and income we need and earn. So what is to defeat? You liberals are really a very strange and irrational group of people. I agree, lets get rid of Big Labor and we get rid of labor unions simultaneously -great strategy!!
jerks!
By Kevin, July 6, 2009 @ 4:38 am

Teamsters are evil.I know because I belonged to one local. There are all political. Should be wiped out.
By admin, July 6, 2009 @ 5:30 am

I am so confused by this comment that I’m not sure what to say – I don’t think this is a liberal or conservative issue (which is a pretty simple-minded way of looking at the world, anyway). As far as jobs, unions (or Big Labor) don’t provide many of them (even these so-called jobs offered by the Teamsters are “volunteer” positions). Companies provide jobs – and the more competitive and profitable the company is, the more jobs it will provide. Unfortunately unions don’t do much to make companies more competitive and in most cases they severely hamstring and in a flat economy that is the quickest way to become extinct (see the “big” 3 automakers).
By admin, July 6, 2009 @ 5:35 am

We don’t think that unions are evil or that companies aren’t evil. There are poor managers of companies and poor leaders of unions, and there are politics in unions and politics in companies. In the end the choice workers have to make (at least now, when there actually is a choice…) is whether they will be better off dealing directly with their company or whether they will be better off dealing through a union (and paying money to that union for its services). No company is perfect, but in the vast majority of cases the direct relationship is superior for both the company and the employee. Unions promise a lot of things and (especially in today’s world) they usually fail to deliver.
By admin, July 6, 2009 @ 5:44 am

This one is pretty funny. “My union has not helped me for 2 years… I love my union.” That “vested pension” is only as good as the company that provided it, and in many cases unionized companies are crashing along with the pensions and health benefits they provide to retirees. That result is tragic for everyone involved, but the point is that unions don’t provide pensions, benefits or wages to workers – companies provide these things. And if the company fails, all these things go away (when the government bails out these pension plans they pay pennies on the dollar, and in the end it is all our taxes that provide that money). Like it or not, the best way to ensure that these benefits are delivered is to do everything possible to ensure the long-term health of companies. Companies can be better managed and there are lots of examples of greed and mismanagement – but this happens in unionized companies just as much as it does in non-union ones, and we definitely don’t argue that companies should not provide great pay and benefits to employees. But in the end the only way these benefits are provided is if the companies survive, and unions normally hurt the competitiveness of companies and don’t help it.
By admin, July 6, 2009 @ 5:45 am

Nothing like working for the Teamsters for free… sounds like a great deal. For them.
By admin, July 6, 2009 @ 5:46 am

Huh?
By Mark, July 6, 2009 @ 7:25 am

Little hard to take you serious when your ramblings are hardly inteligible. You can’t be serious about supporting the union when they are not taking care of you. Oh wait, you aren’t working and therefore not paying dues. They have no use for you right now it appears. Maybe if you sent them a check….no, I doubt it. As a former union member and officer in the local, I can tell you unions do not care about the business you work in. They only care about their business of collecting dues and paying their fat cats. Have you ever bothered to figure out how much you paid over the years in dues? I bet that money would help you now in the time of unemployment. Did you know that there are union pensions that are under funded? Responder Admin makes several solid points. I hope you read his comments.
By Cullen Gibson, July 7, 2009 @ 2:08 pm

Why would anyone want to pay someone to talk for them? The union is a business that preys on employees emotions and justifies their existence by keeping the employee/employer relationship strained. Big labor is over because the high paying jobs are a thing of the past. You now will need to get a post high school education to make it in the midst of globalization. The union ideologies will not be accepted by the next generation of workers.
By admin, July 10, 2009 @ 6:20 am

With regards to the EFC Act why doesn”t the Republican Party hardily support it with
the caveat “the same rules that apply for starting a union must apply for voting one out. It would be fun to watch the democrats squirm to explain why this is not fair to all. Might change the whole dynamic. If the statistics
are true and the first negotiated agreement is not as good as what the workers originally had the unions would be voted out in droves. Just a
thought.