SEARCH
Why Retirees Should Care About Employee Free Choice Act |
|
 |
|
George J. Kourpias, president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, urges union retirees to contact their lawmakers and ask them to support the Employee Free Choice Act. For more information, visit our website at www.RetiredAmericans.org or call 1-888-373-6497.
Unions built the middle class. By standing together, we fought for and won better wages, health care and pensions and safety and respect on the job.
But much of what we achieved is crumbling in today’s troubled economy. Many of us worry that our children and grandchildren will not live as well as we have. More than ever, American workers need the good wages and benefits that they can best achieve through collective bargaining.
As the former president of the Machinists union—and now as president of the Alliance for Retired Americans—there is no doubt in my mind that the fate of workers and retirees is undeniably linked.
We cannot have a solid, stable retirement unless we have a solid, stable middle class. For example, union workers are three times more likely to have a defined-benefit pension plan than nonunion workers. And union workers are five times more likely to have health insurance than nonunion workers.
To me, it is no coincidence that as it becomes harder for workers to form and join unions, more and more Americans are struggling to take care of their families, see a doctor or get a prescription filled, or retire with any sense of comfort.
According to the National Labor Relations Board, in 2007 nearly 30,000 workers faced illegal employer retaliation for trying to join a union—that is five times as many as in 1967.
How do we change this? Workers and retirees must fight together to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, so we can finally crack down on companies that break the law and try to block workers’ freedom to join a union.
What can retirees do to help?
First, talk with your children and grandchildren. Polls have shown that younger workers may not be as aware of the benefits of union bargaining. Tell them all about what our generation went through to create jobs that could support a family. And how much it hurts to see it all slipping away.
Next, tell your representatives and senators in Washington. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Retirees have a lot at stake in this fight. We know what collective bargaining did for us, and we want only the best for our children and grandchildren. If we stand together—retirees, workers, and community leaders—we can pass the Employee Free Choice Act and restore economic security to people of all ages.
2 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
We need to do much more then talk, we need to walk and talk. Words go in one ear and out the other they need to see votes on the hoof. We need to start organizing not just AFL, but all union arm in arm starting with your county seat, to your state capital and finally to Washington DC.
This needs to be a country wide effort. Let’s round them up and head them out to tell our politicians that this is our country. Support EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT.
As Mr. Kourpias says, “Many of us worry that our children and grandchildren will not live as well as we have. More than ever, American workers need the good wages and benefits that they can best achieve through collective bargaining.” But just as importantly, our children and grandchildren need to be educated on the current working conditions and benefits that have and where they came from. That with out unions, there would be no child labor laws, there would be no 8 hour workday, there would be no 40 hour work week, there would be no time and a half for overtime, there would be no workers compensation laws, there would be no OSHA, there would be no Federal Labor Relations Authority, there would be no Unfair Labor Practices, there would be no health benefits packages, there would be no retirement plans, there would be no Family Medical Leave Act, there would be no paid vacations, there would be no Holidays, and the list goes on. Our children and grandchildren need realize that they things didn’t just fall out of the sky. Our worst yet that were brought about by the benevolent concerns and/or generosity of employers. You could ask almost any young person if they new if J. Paul Getty or if a Rockefeller where business icons and they would probably say yes. But ask them if they had ever heard of a John Lewis or Mother Jones and I sure most of them would draw blanks. Myself, I didn’t need to be educated on the labor movement. I can remember when by father went out strike and walked picket line. And how my mother, who already had 6 children at home, took in extra washing and ironing to help make ends meet. And, when I got old enough to make a living for my self. How I to went out on strike and walked picket lines. I feel now a day that most strikes and strikers are marginalized and that crossing picket lines and replacement workers are just a matter of fact. Again, while I agree that many of our children and grandchildren will not live as well as we have with out the benefits that can best achieve through collective bargaining. I also strongly feel that education in labor history for our young people will help them appreciate the goals that have already been achieved.