On Friday, December 4, 2009, 9:30AM-11:00AM, I presented a free labor & employment law seminar at Chicago’s City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Room 805. Thanks to the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs for setting this up (especially Alfredo Camarena, Tony Bertuca & Geralyn Catino).  This was largely Q&A & open discussion, & I believe that this was my 8th such presentation for the DBA. Additionally, attendees received handouts summarizing labor & employment laws, & examining a variety of human resources related legal issues (to see a copy of my 22-page PDF handout click here & to see my 10-slide PowerPoint click here).

On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 7:30AM-9:30AM, a panel of 5 attorneys (including me) are doing a business & personal asset protection seminar.  It will be open discussion & Q & A.  Topics include evaluating the worth of intellectual & real property & determining tax liabilities.  The panel presenters are Fred Dempsey – Real Estate Tax Appeals Attorney; Leon Edelson – Intellectual Property Attorney; Bill Ensing – Attorney, Estate Planning & Asset Protection; & Barry Mortge – Attorney for Closely Held Businesses.  This free workshop will be held at the Silver Stallion Restaurant, 1274 Lee Street, Des Plaines, IL. Breakfast will be served.  Advance registration is required; RSVP by December 4.  For more information and to register, contact Michael Zolno at 773.856.5442 or email zcevents@aol.com.

On Friday, December 11, 2009, 7:30AM-9:30AM, a panel of 6 attorneys (including me) are doing a business succession workshop focusing on the legal & financial aspects of business succession.  The panel presenters are Fred Dempsey – Real Estate Tax Appeals Attorney; Leon Edelson – Intellectual Property Attorney; Bill Ensing – Attorney, Estate Planning & Asset Protection; Angela Hoops – Financial Planner – Lincoln Financial Advisors; Barry Mortge – Attorney for Closely Held Businesses; & Michael Stuart – Attorney, Estate & Succession Planning.  This free workshop is sponsored by Next Level Planning Group.  It will be held at the Silver Stallion Restaurant, 1274 Lee Street, Des Plaines, IL. Breakfast will be served.  Advance registration is required; RSVP by December 8.  For more information and to register, contact Michael Zolno at 773.856.5442 or email zcevents@aol.com.

The letter can be read at Huliq here and below.

Employee Free Choice Act Raises Concerns

As one of Chicago’s largest business associations, representing over 80 communities and 700-plus business members, the Greater O’Hare Association, www.greaterohare.com, recognizes the need to address business concerns such as the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), AKA the “card check bill.”

Essentially, the bill will make it much easier for unions to organize businesses of all sizes and antagonize business owners and operators. This is why the bill is so controversial, and why so many business associations and chambers across the U.S. are against it.

We are solidly against this bill because in our global economy the assertion that a third party entity such as labor unions actually help businesses maintain global competitiveness is diminished when you consider that the EFCA does away with one of the our most sacred democratic tenets—the secret ballot election. Just as importantly, the EFCA can lead to a business’ unionization when it’s too late for that company to do anything about it.

Our members’ businesses require the freedom and flexibility to work with their own employees to decide the best course of action to take regarding the generally accepted subjects of labor negotiations—wages, hours and conditions of employment. Without this freedom and flexibility, smaller businesses, which generally don’t have the resources or wherewithal to effectively deal with labor unions, and that don’t have the luxury of being “too big to fail” or buffered by government stimulus funds, are likely to be reduced to 3rd party participants in their own businesses.

Moreover, our members could lose the ability to quickly and cost effectively deal with and resolve workplace related issues. They’ll have to rely on the costly and time consuming intervention of other 3rd party regulators such as mediators and arbitrators, which is some of the baggage that comes with labor unions. Moreover, it’s commonly understood that once a union is legally in the workplace, it’s extremely difficult to decertify it (get rid of it) while still maintaining the business’ core operations.

There are many reasons why the percentage of the private sector unionized workforce has been in decline for years (recent estimates put this at 7%-8% of the overall private sector U.S. workforce). Some of these reasons include the fact that since the 1960′s came the passage of many of our toughest civil rights and employment laws covering almost all employers in the U.S. Today, due to these same laws, plus greater safety and child labor law enforcement, there is greater equality in the workplace relative to race, gender, age and other protected classes. Many of these same civil rights and employment laws were passed subsequent to our era of major labor law legislation. Additionally, pay equality (which generally doesn’t exist in union workplaces because poor performers are protected) has improved. In other words, workplace relations, safety and child labor standards have improved, while union popularity, efficacy and integrity have declined.

Should this legislation pass in any form, even in a watered down version, we’re extremely concerned of the detrimental impact it could have on the economy, Illinois and our member businesses.

Shirlanne Lemm, President, Greater O’Hare Association, 630-773-2941, slemm@greater-ohare.com; & Charles Krugel, Labor & Employment Lawyer & Member, Board of Directors, GOA; Both Are Members of GOA’s Government Affairs Team.

Also, my April 1 radio interview concerning the EFCA is now online and can be listened to or downloaded here.  My segment of the interview (about 20 minutes) concerned the overall economic and political impact of the EFCA and its origins.  See my prior post for more information about this program and interview.

On March 4, 2009, I did a 30-minute presentation for the World Trade Center Illinois’ Doing Business With Latin America seminar at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.  My part of the day-long seminar concentrated on the Legal & Cultural Considerations for International Trade in Latin America.  My seminar PowerPoint (10 slides) is available here.

Finally, on May 2, I’ll be doing a law seminar for the Woodlawn Community Service Corporation in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, and on September 8 in the evening, I’ll be doing a presentation for the University of Illinois system’s alumni career center’s clients, employees, members & associates concerning legal issues in social networking, social media & other electronic recruiting techniques.  This will be at the U of I Chicago campus.  More about these seminars will be posted soon.