WHAT ARE THE TRUE CONSEQUENCES OF THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT?

With the Obama administration in the White House and an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) appears likely. But it can and should be stopped if at all possible, given the adverse impact that it will have on the workplace and the overall economy. In The Case against the Employee Free Choice Act, Richard Epstein examines this proposed legislation and explains why it is a large step backward in labor relations that will work to the detriment of employees, employers, and the public at large.

In making his case, Epstein shows how the three major components of EFCA—the card check method of union recognition, compulsory interest arbitration, and increased penalties for employer unfair labor practices—will only exaggerate the flaws of the current system and undermine the long-term set of labor practices. He presents powerful and principled reasons to explain why the decline of union membership has little to do with the supposed flaws of the current system and everything to do with globalization and technology. In addition, he demonstrates the significant constitutional challenges to both the card check and arbitration provisions.

Richard A. Epstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1972. He has been the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000 and a visiting professor at New York University Law School since 2007. He has written extensively on constitutional law, law and economics, and labor law.

FREE PREVIEW