THE END OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Should the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) become law, and it seems to be headed in that direction, then Corporate America will be deprived of the kind of collective bargaining that has been an integral part of the labor relations formula since 1935.

The EFCA not only does away with secret ballot elections, but it also mandates binding arbitration when collective bargaining does not produce an accepted in result for a first contract after 120 days of negotiating.

 Unions will have no incentive to make concessions during collective bargaining if they can play out the clock and know that an arbitration panel will take over and produce a result favorable to its interests. For example, an arbitration panel could dictate that companies pay salaries that they can not afford; it can also mandate the amount of union dues and impose stiff penalties for non-payment.

Collective bargaining has always been a process of give and take, where a balance is achieved between competing interests.

There are sufficient laws in place that address the interests of both management and labor. Binding arbitration will obviate those laws and open the door for unions to achieve injurious results that will eat away at the substance of Corporate America.