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Employee Free Choice Act Needed to Save Our Middle Class |
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| Bill Lawhorn joined with his co-workers to form a union at Consolidated Biscuit Co. and was fired after he spoke in favor of the union. | |
The nation’s middle class is being squeezed and one critical reason is the difficulty workers experience when they want to exercise their right to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.
That’s why Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) says he, along with 230 other House members—a clear majority—introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) last night. Click here to see if your representative is a co-sponsor. At a Capitol Hill press conference this morning, Miller said:
Today the procedures for forming a union and bargaining for better wages and benefits are stacked against the workers. The Employee Free Choice Act is very simple. It says that if a majority of workers in a workplace sign authorization cards in support of a union, they get a union. That’s it.
Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), who chairs the Education and Labor subcommittee on health, employment, labor and pensions, says he expects to begin hearings Thursday on the bill and predicted confidently: “We’ll get it through the House.”
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| AFL-CIO President John Sweeney (far right) joins Rep. George Miller today on Capitol Hill to announce the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act. | |
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| Sen. Edward Kennedy vows to introduce the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate in coming weeks. | |
If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act would make the process of choosing a union more fair by:
- Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
- Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
- Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
Currently, if employees present an employer with union authorization cards signed by a majority, the employer can demand a management-controlled election process through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But the NLRB election process is broken because it enables employers to intimidate, coerce and harass workers and drag out the process indefinitely.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney set the theme for the day when he said: “The current system for forming unions and bargaining is badly broken.”
Every day, corporations harass, intimidate and even fire people who try to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. They deny employees the freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions. And when they do that, they deny working men and women the freedom to pursue a better life. We must change the system.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) promised the bill would be introduced soon in the Senate, saying “the Senate is a couple of weeks behind” the House when it comes to putting the bill on the legislative agenda.
But Kennedy made it clear he intends to fight for the bill in the Senate, where experts believe it will be tougher to gain a majority vote.
For too long, Congress has failed to act against the union-busting tactics now all too familiar in the workplace. It’s time to listen to the voice of America’s working men and women, and give them what they want and deserve—a fair chance at the American Dream.
We have a new Democratic Congress now. It’s up to us to pass this important bill, and we intend to do it.
One of the workers who has seen these anti-union tactics up close is Bill Lawhorn, who spoke at the press conference (see video). Five years ago, Lawhorn joined with his co-workers to form a union at Consolidated Biscuit Co. (CBC) in McComb, Ohio. Lawhorn was fired after he spoke in favor of the union. Even though 650 of 875 employees—an overwhelming majority— signed cards saying they wanted a union, CBC responded with threats, harassment and intimidation, forcing workers to attend meetings where they slammed the union. The very next day after the union vote in 2002, Lawhorn was fired.
Even though the NLRB has ruled he was illegally fired and has ordered CBC to rehire him with back pay, Lawhorn still is unemployed. But he is determined to keep supporting the union and his co-workers’ freedom to decide for themselves about a union.
Somebody asked me if I had it to do over again, would I? Hell, yes. It was the right thing to do.
The Employee Free Choice Act not only would allow workers like Lawhorn to get a fair deal, it is needed to keep building our middle class, said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of more than 192 national civil rights organizations.
The Employee Free Choice Act is needed now more than ever. It will lift up the American middle class. I can’t think of a more appropriate civil rights bill.
8 Comments
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This is long overdue legislation. After decades of chipping away at unions basic rights this will help stop the middle class from sliding downward. The political right has tried to make us look like WE are holding America back but we are fighting to save America.
The rich are getting richer at a record pace in America. That doesn’t happen in isolation. The profits workers make for corporations are not being shared with those workers. It’s morally disgraceful. It should be illegal. Why can’t a maximum wage be legislated? Why can’t it be legislated that no worker in a company can make more than 20 times that of the average worker in that company. What percentage of Americans would stand against it? If the government is supposed to represent all the people in the US, why can’t we have a maximum wage? In the greatest period of growth in the United States, CEOs did not make the ridiculous amounts of money they make today. The wealth was shared, to a greater extent, with the average worker. This type of greed should be outlawed. It’s immoral and unjust.
Unions need to be strengthened to fight this. With a filthy, dishonest failed oil tycoon President, who has a disgusting elitist mother who said Katrina victims are better off, is it any wonder corporations can fire those trying to form unions. Degenerit Bush and his family think the wealthy are entitled to all the money they can get if they can do it legally. There’s a huge gap b/w legal entitlement and moral entitlement in this country though. Workers need to stand together to close that gap.
To say “they should be allowed to do so” sounds absurd. Workers are the vast majority of this country. Workers need to be made aware of the politicians that hold up this legislation, to tell their friends, to post bulletins and hang posters, and to vote out and humiliate all politicians who stand against this legislation.
Americans need to be told the economy is not good for the vast majority of Americans to counter the nonstop media reports that the economy is good. The economy for the wealthy, for the corporate executives, for those who live off stock dividends and other investments, is good. Those people represent less than 5% of Americans though. 95% of Americans should wake up and fight.
The current legislation is not strong enough in that it should strongly criminalize what corporations are doing to workers trying to form unions. If it isn’t criminalized, it’s only a matter of time until justly disgruntled workers retaliate violently. The workers are the majority. When the rich minority constantly force the majority down - keeps them from getting what they’re morally entitled to - it’s only a matter of time until it results in violence.
This is a step, even if a small one, in the right direction to restore the basic American rights to members of the work force. We have the transfer, over the last several decades, of those rights to the rich. In the process we are losing the basic rights that were the basis for the founding of our country. “We the people,” have been replaced by dollars, wealth, and greed.
One of the principles I teach in my courses on (believe it or not) management is that the purpose of management and the organization in America is the delight of the customer (vs the stockholder/owner). And the customers of management are the members of the workforce who, in turn, delight the external customer. When that’s not the case you are looking at an ANTI-American organization.
Here’s hoping this first step is followed by others (like establishing criminal penalties for those “managers” (actually, anti-human would be dictators) who oppose worker’s rights.
Del Nelson
Professor of Management
American River College
Sacramento, CA
I think it is time for the american worker to practice civil disobedience by using the tactic of the sit-down strike. Take physical possession of the work place and demand the company and the government abide by the wishes of the majority. Trying to play fair with these bosses has brought the union movement to the brink of disaster. If these companies want to keep a union out they have the power to do so because the government through the NLRB is in bed with the owners.
I ALWAYS, ENJOYED WORKING FOR UNION SHOPS, OVER NON UNION SHOPS. I WAS TREATED EQUALLY, THE PEOPLE HAD BETTER ATTITUDE, I HAD SOME DISAGREEMENTS WITH THE UNION, BUT THE GOOD OUT WEIGHTED THE BAD. WHY THESE COMPANYS WANT UNHAPPY EMPLOYEES. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.
There should never be anyone fired for trying to form a union. We are being stripped of our freedom in America, one thing at a time and this just can’t happen. Our predecessor’s gave their lives to fight for the freedom that we all take it for granted and we are sitting by and allowing our freedom to be robbed from us! Quit being an arm-chair watcher and start being a voice of many.
Contact your representatives in the White House and demand their support to give us our rights back. They don’t run our country…we do…or should! They work for us! Mr. Lawhorn should be commended for standing up for what he believes, not lose his job!
I have been trying to form a union for 2 years at my current job. I’ve seen the tactics that companies use, lies, threats, and total disregard of the law. It’s time someone stepped up to help the working class men and women.
This Bill HR 800 is long overdue! Employees chance of having a voice via Union organizing in the current format is almost impossible. If we voted for our elected officials under the same system you could stay home and not bother voting!! This is why we need HR 800 so we can even the playing field against well funded corporations!!