Inside AGC CEO’s Message

May/June 2009

AGC Continues to Fight ‘Card Check’ Legislation

Protecting workers’ rights to a fair and private vote on unionization

Although both sides of the Card Check debate seem to have quieted for now, AGC is continuing to educate legislators and the public on the damaging effects of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act.

Early in the debate, AGC urged members to use the online Legislative Action Center to contact representatives and senators to oppose the proposed legislation. To date, AGC members have sent more than 16,000 letters to Capitol Hill opposing Card Check. As those letters pour into congressional offices, AGC continues to meet with legislators to explain that Card Check would deprive millions of employees of the right to a private election in deciding whether to unionize.

As an association that proudly represents both union and nonunion construction companies, AGC has long supported time-honored rules guaranteeing workers the ability to make one of the most important choices of their working career—in a way that is free of coercion or intimidation from either side. After all, the private vote is something organized labor fought for 70 years ago as a way to protect workers.

Card Check requires the federal government to appoint an arbitrator to impose terms of employment for America’s business workers if their unions and managers are unable to reach a deal in 130 days. Currently, the federal government can impose an outside arbitrator only if either side fails to negotiate in good faith.

Worse, the proposal would hurt union shops and union construction workers, as determined in a new report we commissioned. Having Washington-appointed officials set final contract terms for individual companies would make it harder to maintain collective bargaining through area agreements. That is because those Washington-appointed arbitrators are likely to insist upon wages and benefits different than those in the area agreements.

AGC member Otis Crowder speaks to reporters during a Card Check media event arranged by AGC of America and hosted by Carolinas AGC.

AGC members and chapters have been hard at work from the beginning. Mike Murphy, president of Turner Murphy Co. of Rock Hill, Rock Hill, S.C., and chairman of the board of Carolinas AGC, served as a guest columnist for the Charlotte Business Journal in late February. In his op-ed, Murphy argued that the so-called Employee Free Choice Act would cause employees to suffer and lead to the consolidation of the construction industry.

AGC of America and Carolinas AGC hosted two events on March 25 in Greensboro and Charlotte, N.C., to explain how the proposed Card Check bill would take away a worker’s right to a private vote and cause negative repercussions for union contractors as well.

Steve Gennett, president and CEO of Carolinas AGC, toured D.H. Griffin Co. in Greensboro and Crowder Construction’s equipment repair shop in Charlotte before delivering his remarks to the local media. Both events were widely covered, including local NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates, the Charlotte Observer and National Public Radio.

In Denver, I visited a hospital project site and met with Dave Ivis, executive vice president and Kevin Fone, project superintendent, both of GE Johnson Construction Co., an AGC member and union-organized firm. Both the Denver Post and the Denver Business Journal covered the event, at which we explained how having Washington-appointed officials set final contract terms for individual companies would make it harder to maintain collective bargaining, a central benefit of unionized construction.

March and April proved exciting months in the Card Check debate, as Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) announced that he would not support the bill, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said she would vote against even considering the bill. At this writing, proponents of EFCA are a few votes show of advancing the bill in the Senate. Despite these changes, AGC remains cautious and urges members to continue contacting their members of Congress to ensure that they oppose the bill and any so-called “compromises” that would only serve as a way to advance Card Check.