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Employee Free Choice Support Gaining Momentum Across the Nation |
The momentum to pass the Employee Free Choice Act is growing by the day. Already, working families have placed more than 30,000 phone calls to members of Congress urging them to pass this important legislation. They have sent 300,000 e-mail and other communications as well. At the same time, state and local political leaders also are joining the rising tide of support for the bill.
On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Senate called on the U.S. Congress to pass the legislation, and Allentown became the third Pennsylvania municipality to pass such a resolution in the past two weeks. More than 50 union activists from the Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council packed the council chambers wearing union T-shirts and Employee Free Choice Act stickers.
On May 10, the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., City Council passed its own resolution in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. After passing the resolution, the council members said they would send a copy to Pennsylvania Sens. Robert Casey (D), a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, and Arlen Specter (R). Just two days before, the Lancaster, Pa., City Council passed a similar resolution.
The Wisconsin Senate’s action brings to 36 the number of state and local legislative bodies that have endorsed the act. Nearly 40 more resolutions are pending in such cities as Los Angeles and Buffalo, N.Y.
People of faith across the country also are acting on their belief in fairness by supporting the freedom of workers to freely choose a union.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) recently released a briefing paper, Confronting Structural Poverty: The Employee Free Choice Act. The paper encourages member agencies to look at the circumstances that workers in their communities are facing and invites them to deepen their commitment to put faith into action by actively supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.
Groups such as JCPA, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), the United Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministries, the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society and many others are delivering the message that the Employee Free Choice Act is the best chance for workers to lift themselves out of poverty. The JCPA and IWJ also are circulating a letter for clergy nationwide to sign to show support for the legislation.
In addition to advocating for the Employee Free Choice Act, faith groups have become vital voices in the effort to educate their communities about the problems of worker when they try to form a union to bargain for a better life.
For example, IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo has written an article in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act that will appear in two influential national religious magazines—The Christian Century and Sojourners. IWJ also is preparing to release an updated version of its popular “Why Do Unions Matter?”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act in March. The bill, S. 1041, is now pending in the Senate. If it is enacted, the act would restore balance to the system of forming unions and bargaining. Under current labor law, the employer gets to decide whether workers can form their union through either ballot elections or majority sign-up. The Employee Free Choice Act changes it so that workers get to make that choice. The legislation also creates real penalties for employers who illegally interfere with organizing efforts and sets up a system to ensure that workers get a first contract even if their employers refuse to bargain in good faith.
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