PIA Issues Statement on the Employee Free Choice Act

During this time of economic distress for the American manufacturing sector—in particular, the printing and graphic communications industry—the Employee Free Choice Act is risky legislation.

According to Printing Industries of America’s most recent “Quarterly Print Market Survey,” employment in the industry fell 7 percent—equal to nearly 74,000 jobs—in 2008. An empirical assessment study of the economic implications of the Employee Free Choice Act conducted by Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar of the Law and Economics Consulting Group concluded that unemployment would be compounded by passage of the legislation. Dr. Layne-Farrar’s study estimates that within one year of passage, the Employee Free Choice Act would lead to a 5 to 10 percent increase in unionization, which, in turn, would lead to a one-half to three percent rise in private sector unemployment.