This is indeed an important issue. Readers may also be interested in 
this sympathetic but critical polemical response to EFCA by Dan Gross:

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/21823

While the author agrees that EFCA will help the labour movement in a 
number of significant ways, he also considers it to not go far enough 
towards encouraging workers' self-activity and militancy at the 
grassroots level; instead pinning labour's hopes to national-level 
institutional and governmental actors. I think it raises interesting 
questions for geographers about how scale and workers' autonomy 
interconnect within labour politics. 'Where' is labour power? Is it in 
the unions as institutional actors or does it reside with the workers' 
economic muscle on the job? How is this tension articulated spatially, 
through their respective scales and sites of organising? And through 
what mechanisms is leverage maximised? Interesting stuff. I smell an AAG 
paper panel... :)

Ant


Jane Holgate wrote:
> Dear colleagues
> Can I ask you to please read this and if in agreement add your name to 
> this initiative of the TUC and ourselves?
> http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-16783-f0.cfm
> 
> Best wishes
> Jane
> 
> 
> *The Employee Free Choice Act
> A call for support from UK based/UK academics and academic institutions*
> 
> 'As UK and UK based academics, we support the right for all workers and 
> employees to freely form and join unions for the promotion and defence 
> of their occupational interests. Echoing the ILO fundamental rights and 
> principles we believe that 'This basic human right goes together with 
> freedom of expression. It is the basis of democratic representation and 
> governance.'
> 
> With this in mind, we pledge our support to efforts to ensure the 
> passage of the Employee Free Choice Act in the US.
> 
> The Employee Free Choice Act will restore the right of workers to join 
> together and to act through their unions for better health care, job 
> security, and benefits. We firmly believe the Employee Free Choice Act 
> is good for workers and good for American society.
> 
> It is also good for workers in other parts of the world. US based 
> anti-union consultants have attempted to open up a market for their 
> services in the UK - and we believe the passing of EFCA will help 
> curtail this damaging activity.
> 
> The current crisis in the world's financial markets shows what happens 
> when corporate greed is allowed to go unchecked. The Employee Free 
> Choice Act will help level the playing field for America's workers by 
> giving them a fair and direct path to form unions.
> 
> The Employee Free Choice Act will help restore fairness in American 
> workplaces by:
> 
> (1) Giving workers a fair and direct path to form unions through 
> majority sign-up. EFCA would require an employer to recognize its 
> employees' union when a majority has signed union authorization cards. 
> Under current law, management can refuse to recognize a union even when 
> 100 percent of employees have signed authorization cards. After a 
> majority of workers have signed cards, an employer can still call for a 
> separate election. Under the current system, then, the employer gets to 
> decide whether a separate election is necessary.
> 
> (2) Helping employees secure a contract with their employer in a 
> reasonable period of time. Under current law, anti-union employers often 
> drag workers through lengthy negotiations by delaying bargaining 
> sessions, withholding relevant information, and putting forth bogus 
> proposals. Even though these tactics are illegal, there are no effective 
> deterrents to prevent 'surface bargaining.' The Employee Free Choice Act 
> will strengthen workers' ability to achieve a first contract within a 
> reasonable period of time.
> 
> (3) Toughening penalties against employers who violate their workers' 
> rights. Too many unscrupulous employers get away with breaking labor 
> laws because the current penalties are too weak. The Employee Free 
> Choice Act would increase penalties against employers who illegally fire 
> or retaliate against pro-union workers.
> 
> We call on fellow Academics and academic institutions in the UK to 
> support EFCA and to positively campaign for the rights of American 
> workers.'
> 
> Founding co-sponsors:
> 
> John Kelly, Professor of Industrial Relations, Birkbeck College
> Edmund Heery, Professor of Employment Relations, Cardiff Business School
> Dr Jane Holgate, Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan 
> University
> John Logan, Director of Research, UC Berkeley, Labor Center
> Kim Moody, Senior Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire
> Gregor Gall, Professor of Industrial Relations, University of Hertfordshire
> 
> *To sign up to this call for support e-mail:*
> 
> Jane Holgate, London Metropolitan University ([log in to unmask]) or
> 
> Paul Nowak, National Organiser, ([log in to unmask])
> 
> A full list of supporters can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/efca
> 
> 

-- 

Anthony Ince
Research Student
Department of Geography,
Queen Mary, University of London,
Mile End,
E1 4NS

http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/staff/incea.html