As someone who has studied labor policy and worked on improving labor management relations for many years I am delighted that you are now engaged in an effort to resolve the remaining open issues on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).The intent of this letter is to support your efforts and to speed the passage of this critical reform.
America’s labor law is badly broken and our labor management system needs to be transformed to better support economic recovery and promote productive, innovative, and fair labor management relations. The Employee Free Choice Act should be viewed as a first, necessary step toward these objectives.
I thought I might be helpful to put in one document issues related to the bill that I have been discussing with many of you and that I’ve been speaking on in various forums:
1. A summary of the key evidence indicating why a systemic solution is needed to fix the organizing and first contract negotiations process;
2. The evidence on why the nation needs labor law reform and a transformed labor management system to support our economic recovery initiatives;
3. A way to reframe the debate and the objectives of the bill to better link it to economic policy;
4. My suggestions for the specific provisions of the bill that would provide the systemic fixes needed and serve as a catalyst for innovation and transformation in labor-management relations.
