Trucking: Battle royale brewing over card check legislation
John D. Schulz, Contributing Editor -- Logistics Management, 4/1/2009
Washington — In mid-March it appeared that four U.S. senators would likely decide the fate of the most controversial piece of labor legislation of the young Obama administration. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that unions want passed by the current Congress will probably be decided by the votes of Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Prior of Arkansas, and Michael Bennet of Colorado. At one point Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania endorsed the bill, but he changed his tune in late March, saying in a Senate floor speech this legislation could "drive many companies out of business or overseas.
The first three senators are Democrats. Lincoln and Prior represent Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart and a host of non-union trucking companies, including J.B. Hunt, USA Truck, Maverick Transportation USA, and P.A.M. Transportation.
Today, the trucking industry is approximately 95 percent non-union, compared to about 90 percent unionized before the industry was deregulated in 1980. Except for large LTL carriers belonging to YRC Worldwide, Arkansas Best, and UPS Freight, nearly all of the other 214,000 for-hire trucking companies registered with the Department of Transportation are non-union—and would prefer to stay that way.
What the EFCA would do is make it easier for employees to form a union. Under current law, when at least 30 percent of workers sign a card requesting unionization a secret ballot election monitored by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is held in order to certify a collective bargaining union.
Under EFCA, there would be no secret ballot vote. Instead, as soon as 50 percent of workers sign the cards, the NLRB would be required to certify the union. Supporters say the current system favors employers who often can take years to recognize a bargaining union. Opponents say taking away the secret ballot favors union organizers and can lead to intimidation.
David Congdon, CEO of North Carolina-based Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., a non-union carrier that ranks as the nation's seventh-largest LTL carrier, is an outspoken critic of EFCA. Congdon calls it simply "very bad legislation" not just for the trucking industry, but for all U.S. businesses.
Some non-union trucking executives are not worried so much about their companies as much as its impacts on the industry at large. Chuck Hammel, president of LTL Pitt Ohio Express, said his company's overall pay package exceeds that of Teamsters-covered carriers.
"This will be devastating to family businesses," Hammel tells LM. "I'm afraid of this legislation because it will affect small businesses in all industries. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and I think the legislation as it is proposed will kill them."
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has begun a multimillion-dollar campaign against EFCA. Thomas J. Donohue, president of the 3 million-member Chamber, calls it simply a "union power grab."
However, how things will turn out is anyone's guess. "This is probably one of the most unique political issues I've seen in my lifetime," says Timothy Lynch, senior vice president of the American Trucking Associations. "I am making no predictions."
Shippers fighting "free choice"
03/10/2009Time to Hug your Best Carriers
11/09/2008
View All On-Demand Webcasts
