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Religious Leaders: Employee Free Choice Strengthens Families, Communities
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Religious leaders have been deeply involved in workers’ efforts to form unions and have seen firsthand how poorly workers are treated. Now, some 110 religious leaders across the country have signed a letter urging the U.S. Senate to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
The letter points out that nearly all faiths support the value of work and fair treatment of workers:
America’s faith traditions are nearly unanimous in support of the right of workers to organize, and by using sacred text and tradition, our faith communities have developed social statements supporting the freedom of workers, too vulnerable to systemic injustices in the workplace, to organize and collectively bargain. The Employee Free Choice Act…makes real the principle that the free choice about whether to form unions should belong to workers.
Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, says the Employee Free Choice Act “is the most significant piece of legislation in this decade.”
It empowers the working people in this country. The religious community wants to end poverty. Worker organization enables workers to gain a fair share of the prosperity generated in the work place. Without such organization, ending poverty will never be a reality.
The Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041) currently is in the Senate, where a vote is expected next week. The U.S. House passed the historic legislation March 1. If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would enable workers to decide how they want to choose a union. The act would give workers the option to use majority sign-up, which is much faster than the management-controlled representation election process and leaves less time for employers to harass and intimidate workers to discourage them from joining unions.
Hadar Susskind, the Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, says:
…our scriptures lay out a high standard for the treatment of workers in a series of laws that promote a balanced relationship between employer and employee.
By requiring employers to recognize a union when a majority of workers sign cards, strengthening penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate employees, and establishing binding arbitration mechanisms when employers and workers are unable to agree on a first contract, the (Employee Free Choice Act) will improve the quality of life for millions of Americans, taking a step forward in fulfilling the labor standards that our Jewish tradition demands.
The religious leaders also say allowing workers to join unions is good for the country:
As religious leaders, we will continue to work to disseminate within our communities of faith this message: That the right of workers to freely organize their workplaces is required in a democracy, and families and communities are strengthened when workers can bargain for fair wages, adequate benefits and safe working conditions.
Let your senators know you support the Employee Free Choice Act by signing the online card.
You also can join with thousands of union members and allies who support the freedom of workers to form unions on June 19 for rallies in one of nearly 60 cities nationwide to urge the Senate to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. More than 3,000 people are expected at a rally on Capitol Hill that day as the Senate debates the bill, to make it clear that giving workers a free choice is a priority.
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