by James Parks, Mar 13, 2008

Sharon A’Damo, a CWA Local 1023 member, was one of the first to sign the card.

The union movement’s nationwide drive to get at least 1 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act is gaining steam. Four hundred members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) already have signed postcards to tell the new president and Congress that working families across America want them to immediately enact the legislation.

The cards will be presented to the new Congress after the November elections in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. (You can show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act by clicking here to sign our online card.)

CWA President Larry Cohen, who chairs the AFL-CIO Organizing Committee, says: 

The corporate bullies who are scared to death of the Employee Free Choice Act have millions of dollars to spend to try to defeat it. Our side has millions of working families who are fed up with having their rights stomped on, and our postcard campaign is one way we will make that abundantly clear to lawmakers. 

The AFL-CIO Executive Council voted last week to move forward with the program. In a statement, “The Employee Free Choice Act: Million-Member Mobilization,” the council lays out the urgent need to pass the bill:

America’s workers must regain their bargaining power to maintain and expand the middle class. The American middle class was created by the ability of workers to form unions and bargain collectively after the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935. 

More and more Americans are beginning to understand that collective bargaining can promote broadly shared economic growth and prosperity, higher wages, better jobs, better and more extensive health care coverage, retirement security and respect for workers on the job.

If passed, the federal legislation would level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions. Employers also would face stiff penalties for illegal behavior, such as being liable for fines of up to $20,000 per charge for violating labor laws.

Not only will lawmakers have signed cards, they’ll be able to put a face with the name. Union members will be encouraged to upload pictures of themselves to a website so photos can be matched with cards when they are displayed in the U.S. Capitol. 

The cards will tell the new president and lawmakers that the bill is crucial legislation to protect workers’ freedom to choose a union and bargain collectively without management intimidation.

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