LIVCO Democratic Party seminar debunks anti-union lies

The Republican Party and the rightwing are spinning out of control to put out misinformation on the recently introduced federal Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that removes some of the obstacles to forming unions. The Livingston County Democratic Party is sponsoring a seminar to debunk some of those lies, myths and misinformation.

Brent Gillette, the national field director for the Michigan AFL-CIO, will speak at the LIVCO Democratic Party headquarters at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The party HQ is located at 10321 Grand River Ave. Suite 600 in Brighton 48116.

The bill simply allows employees at a worksite who want a union to sign a card clearly indicating support for a union, and the company is required to recognize the union when a majority of workers indicate they want it. Under current law, even if a majority of workers indicate they want collective bargaining representation, management can call for an election, which simply gives them time to call in professional union busters.

Employers have unfettered access to employees leading up to the election where they threaten to fire the main organizers and even bluff that the company will close if it unionizes.

The biggest GOP talking point is that the EFCA will take away the “secret ballot.” Simply not true. The EFCA simply takes that power out of the hands of management and puts it into the hands of the employees. The employers can petition for a “secret ballot” election anytime.