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By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer Friday, April 13, 2007

AUGUSTA - Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao visited the annual Construction Expo of Maine yesterday and spoke out against a bill that would change the way workplaces unionize.

The Employee Free Choice Act, or "Card Check Bill," has passed the U.S. House of Representatives, and a companion bill was introduced last week in the Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Under the bill, a workplace could unionize if organizers were able to gather signatures from 50 percent of the employees, plus one. Currently, if 30 percent of workers express interest in unionization, the National Labor Relations Board supervises a secret election.

Chao said the Bush administration opposes the bill because it would remove a worker's right to vote in a secret election, a process in place to protect workers from "coercion or harassment in unionization elections."

Chao said President Bush will veto the bill if it gets to his desk.

"Although this title sounds empowering, the bill does just the opposite," Chao said. "It effectively takes away a worker's right to vote in a private-ballot election. Under the card check process, it is possible that nearly half the workers in a workplace might not even be aware that a union-organizing campaign is going on."

Chao said the bill also would have the government force a two-year labor contract on workers and employers if a contract was not agreed to within a congressionally set timetable.

"Workers would not have any right to ratify, or not ratify, the contract," Chao said.

Organized labor has a different take on the legislation.

"This bill is about trying to get workers a chance to organize, given what happens these days with organizing efforts," said Edward F. Gorham, president of the Maine AFL-CIO.

Gorham said that many efforts to unionize are thwarted by delays caused when employers appeal who is allowed to vote, the election results and other parts of the process.

The bill would streamline that process and make it easier to unionize -- a simple majority of workers would have to sign cards.

Gorham said an election could still be held if one-third of the workers wanted one.

He also said the administration's complaints about the bill are disingenuous.

"The administration's concerns are falling on deaf ears, as far as we're concerned," he said. "This administration has had ample opportunity to try to show their concern for the workers of Maine, and they've slapped us upside the head every time."

The Senate version of the bill was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Maine's Republican senators have comments that echo the administration's stance.

David Snepp, Sen. Olympia Snowe's press secretary, said she "would be very skeptical of any bill that deprived the fundamental rights of workers to vote in a private ballot in a union election."

In a written statement, Sen. Susan Collins said she's concerned that the legislation would "deprive employees of their long-standing right to decide by secret ballot whether or not to be represented by a union by allowing the union to sidestep the current election process by gathering a certain number of authorization cards."

The House version of the bill had 233 co-sponsors, including Maine Democrats Michael Michaud and Tom Allen. Both voted for the bill, which passed 241 to 185, with 13 Republicans voting with the Democrats.

"For many Americans, joining a union has become a risk rather than a right," Michaud said in a statement. "The Employee Free Choice Act restores workers' rights to form unions and bargain.

"If all workers are able to make their own decision -- freely and fairly -- about whether to form a union, then more of America's workers will be able to bargain for better treatment on the job and improve their own standard of living."

Allen said both labor and business are concerned about pressure being applied to workers to vote one way or the other.

"Some businesses -- not all -- have found ways to manipulate the election process so it's less than fair," Allen said. "A card check system is designed to get around that problem. This legislation is really designed to make sure you can make this process move along and not be stalled."

The Construction Expo is organized by the Maine chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction. The event is open to everyone in the industry and offers a chance for equipment and service suppliers to interact with contractors.

Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at: