October 2009 Developments - 35

• Create an immigration system that functions efﬁciently for employers, workers, and government agencies; • Ensure that all workers enjoy the same labor law protections; • Pair enforcement with an updated legal immigration system to reduce undocumented immigration—this will result in adequate screening of the workforce, more control over undocumented workforce, and a shift in focus to the very small percentage of bad actors who seek to abuse the system; and • Not penalize employers for their past inability to comply with a broken system. ARDA believes employers should not be held liable for a subcontractor’s hiring of an undocumented worker, unless it has actual knowledge of the hiring. ARDA supports a tamper-proof employee veriﬁcation system and believes that this element is essential for the guest worker program to function properly. Employers are exposed to extremely high penalties under current bill for non-veriﬁcation, and we must be able to depend on a government-based system. Status Immediately following August recess, Congress is gearing up for a major legislative battle on this politically divided issue. Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) is expected to introduce his immigration reform proposal sometime in mid- to late September. ARDA has reached out to Senator Schumer and his staff to lay out the industry position on this issue. At the present time, there is no date set to make-up any bill, and it remains uncertain whether or not a compromise bill can be reached on this issue at any time. Stay tuned called “card check.” This bill would end the employee secret ballot election process that currently applies to proposals to join a union. It is a means to fast-track union recruiting. Background Organized labor is pushing hard in Congress to enact its top legislative initiative the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA would install the so-called “card check” procedure for organizing employees into unions. Very simply, card check would require that an employer enter into collective bargaining with a union if a majority of the company’s employees simply sign cards expressing their support for the union. Under this process, the identity of workers who signed—or refused to sign—unionorganizing cards would be made public to the union organizers, the worker’s employer, and co-workers, leaving workers vulnerable to threats and intimidation from union leaders, management, or both. The current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) process provides that if 30 percent of employees present a petition or union cards to the employer, then a secret ballot election may be requested with all employees to ﬁnally determine whether or not to unionize. The election process is supervised by the NLRB and has been positively recognized by federal courts. The NLRB provides detailed procedures that ensure a fair election, free of fraud, where employees may cast their vote conﬁdentially without peer pressure or coercion from unions or employers. Organized labor, however, is pushing card check as the most effective means of quickly boosting their sagging membership numbers. Employee-intensive real estate businesses, such as hotels, very likely would be targets of card check campaigns. ARDA, however, strongly supports the continued use of a federally supervised private ballot, so that personal decisions about whether to join a union remain private. No one, employers and union organizers alike, should fear an election conducted by private ballot. Private ballots protect free choice. It is the best manner in which to protect an individual’s freedom to choose without subtle or overt coercion. 2009-2010 Looking ahead to 2010, these four issues and how they move through Congress will greatly impact our industry and determine how quickly we can rebound from the recession. ARDA will continue to work with members from top public and privately-held real estate companies and management companies to address these points of concern. We also will continue to align closely with strategic partners to make our voice heard, as a champion for policies that strengthen and positively impact our nation’s economy and overall business/consumer health. D Sandra DePoy, RRP, is ARDA’s Vice President of Federal Relations, ARDA-ROC/PAC. Her e-mail is sdepoy@arda.org. Card Check ARDA is part of a business coalition called the Coalition for a Democratic Workforce. Its mission is to curtail efforts by organized labor to pass legislation October 2009 • Developments
October 2009 Developments

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2009 Developments
