Myths and Facts

Myth: “The legislation would end the rights of employees to secret ballot elections.” – Center for Union Facts

FACT: The Employee Free Choice Act does not abolish elections. Under the proposed legislation, workers get to choose the union formation process—elections or majority sign up. What the Employee Free Choice Act does prevent is an employer manipulating the flawed system to influence the election outcome.

Myth: “Legal recognition of a union has traditionally been achieved through secret ballot elections…just like how a person votes for a senator or congressman.” – Center for Union Facts

FACT: Current union elections involving secret ballots bear no resemblance to political elections. Worker’s free speech rights are squelched, employers practice various forms of economic coercion, and labor law allows employers to indefinitely delay recognition through drawn-out appeals.

Myth: NLRB elections are “the only way to guarantee worker protection from coercion and intimidation.” - Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

FACT: Workers are more susceptible to coercion in NLRB elections than majority sign-up. Workers in NLRB elections are twice as likely as those in majority sign up campaigns to report that management coerced them to oppose the union. Further, less than one in 20 workers (4.6 percent) who signed a card with a union organizer reported that the presence of the organizer made them feel pressured to sign the card.