EEOC Appointment and EFCA Compromise

President Obama has nominated Jacqueline A. Berrien to be Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Ms. Berrien has been associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund for the past five years.  She previously worked for the Ford Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

There appears to be a compromise gathering consensus concerning the enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act (“EFCA”).  See our prior post for a description of the key provisions of this proposed legislation.  The compromise that is emerging will be to drop the card check recognition provisions in favor of quick union elections (five to ten days) to be conducted by the NLRB.   Left in the bill for now are the provisons providing for arbitration of first time union contracts and increased penalties for unfair labor practices committed during organizing drives and/or first contract negotiations.  It is predicted that the Senate will probably not deal with this legislation until September at the earliest.