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Boston-Area Congress Members Back Employee Free Choice Act |
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| U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch and Mike Capuano joined Greater Boston Labor Council President Lou Mandarini and Vice President Patricia Armstrong in supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Richard Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council, reports on the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members from the Boston area met with members of Congress yesterday to press for quick action on the Employee Free Choice Act, a critical bill to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch attended the meeting at Plumbers and Pipe Fittters Local 12 in Dorchester. Some 75 union leaders and activists of the Greater Boston Labor Council took part, as all three members of Congress publicly pledged their support for the Employee Free Choice Act, the first viable effort to reform America’s broken labor laws in over a generation. (U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, another Boston-area member, also is a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act.)
The meeting included a presentation by two Greater Boston Labor Council affiliates that highlighted the need for swift action. Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 organizer Bill Corley spoke about a campaign his union won through a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election that now is being thwarted by the notorious union-busting law firm Jackson Lewis. Such management interference highlights the need for binding arbitration for first contracts, a provision in the Employee Free Choice Act.
Peter Rider of SEIU Local 615 introduced Christian Kanonga, a security guard who recently served on the bargaining committee in a breakthrough first-contract victory in which Boston-area security firms voluntarily recognized Local 615 through the majority authorization process. These workers’ stories highlighted our broken system for forming unions and the need for change to restore workers’ bargaining power and rebuild an economy that works for everyone.
We are proud that our congressional delegation is taking the lead on restoring workers’ rights in America.
5 Comments
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An excellent positive step for the labor movement to begin 2009 as a year when masses of workers will understand and embrace organized labor as the only way to survive the corporate morass we live with daily.
Finally some courage in our Congress. Just please don’t lose your nerve. Continue fighting for the little guy. Working families are hurting!!!
I think tha employees should be able to form unions.
It isrefreshing to her that the Democrats in Congress are finally getting some backbone. We supported them in thick and thin and now we expect and are thankful for their support. Let us NOT drop our guards, because the anti-union Republican party is going to push back hard and we CANNOT allow any Democrat to fall back.
Besides getting congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Congress also needs to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act.