SEARCH
Employee Free Choice Act Introduced in Congress |
|
The Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate today, launching the legislative battle to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
It’s a great day for working families and a sign of the change that America voted for last fall. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) announced the bill’s launch at the Senate, along with workers whose struggles to form unions illustrate the need to give workers, not bosses, the ability to choose how to form a union, as well as a guarantee of a contract and protection from employer intimidation, coercion and firing.
 |
||||
|
||||
Deborah Kelly, one of the workers testifying today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about the importance of protecting the freedom to form a union, says her union is vital to protect her and her family.
As a line man apprentice for the Chugach Electric Association, I work hard every day, in sometimes dangerous conditions, to provide power to the Anchorage, Alaska, area. I am truly honored to testify before Congress about how I have benefited from joining a union. Thanks to my union, I work with the most highly trained people in the industry and I know I will come home safe every night.
 |
||||
|
||||
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says introduction of this bill is a strong message in support of working families.
Today is a banner day for working Americans, a milestone on the road to rebuilding our nation’s middle class—and it couldn’t come at a more crucial time. We thank the House of Representatives and the Senate for introducing the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers’ freedom to bargain for fair wages, job security, better health care and secure pensions. Special thanks also goes to Congressman Miller, Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Harkin for being the lead sponsors and champions for America’s working families.
We are confident the Employee Free Choice Act is going to become the law of the land.
Carol Pier of Human Rights Watch, one of the dozens of organizations backing the Employee Free Choice Act, says U.S. labor laws need the kind of fair opportunity that workers around the world have.
Weak U.S. labor law effectively denies millions of workers the right to form a union and bargain collectively. Congress should bring worker protections closer to international standards by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.
19 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
The End of Civilization Is NEAR ….Employee Free Choice Act NOW!
Employee Free Choice Act: Rally Planned at the Headquarters of The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace in Washington D.C. This Week
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2009
The formal introduction of The Employee Free Choice Act in Congress Today the “End of Civilization will begin to disappear” for Corporate Front Groups such as The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, My Private Ballot, Save Our Secret Ballot, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Employee Freedom Action Committee, Alliance For Worker AFW, Americans For Job Security and the public relations firm behind the Employee Free Choice Act ” Losing our Secret Ballot strategy Navigators Global.
This according to Bernie Marcus, co-founder and former CEO of The Home Depot, who said during a conference call about the Employee Free Choice Act last October. Retailers who don’t speak out against it “should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs.”
“This is how a civilization disappears,” Marcus said. “I’m sitting here as an elder statesman, and I’m watching this happen, and I don’t believe it.”
All across the nation America’s Workers are holding Over 100 Grassroots Events Across the Country Urging Congress to Pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Workers are also planning to come to D.C. Tomorrow to Tell Their Stories Directly to Their Representatives and to Testify Before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.
This week a Coalition of some of the Biggest and Largest Labor Unions, Religious Groups and Civic Groups are Planning a Massive Rally in Support of the Employee Free Choice Act at the Headquarters of The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace a Corporate Front Group made up of over 500 members who are opposing the Employee Free Choice Act.
Employee Free Choice Act: Rally Planned at the Headquarters of The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace in Washington D.C. This Week
The Time and Date of the Rally will be Announced Shortly.
Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
901 7th Street NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20001(202) 580-7289
http://efcanow.blogspot.com/
For More Information on EFCA please visit our websites and blog
http://www.TheTruthAboutEFCA.Org
http://www.employeefreechoiceactnow.org
http://efcanow.blogspot.com/
http://efcaunionbustingclub.blogspot.com/
http://www.FreeChoiceActNow.Org
http://www.LaborUnionResources.Org
For more information on Employer Intimidation and Union-Busting FEAR Tactics Press Below
http://efcanow.blogspot.com/2009/02/just-say-no-to-employee-free-choice-act.html
Tags: Employee Free Choice Act, Free Choice Act, EFCA, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, My Private Ballot,Chamber of Commerce,Navigators Global,Labor Union, Unions, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Employee Freedom Action Committee, Alliance For Worker AFW, Americans For Job Security, Secret Ballot, Card Check, SEIU. AFL-CIO, USW, Change to Win, UAW Teamsters,
Posted by Employee Free Choice Act Now . Org at 11:05 AM
Labels: AFL-CIO, Change to Win, Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, Free Choice Act, Labor Union, My Private Ballot, Navigators Global, SEIU, Teamsters, UAW, Unions, USW
Why shouldn’t employees have a free choice to refuse to unionize by means of a secret vote?
If they voted “No” in a secret ballot, doesn’t that reflect their real preference, where no one is able to intimidate them individually?
Why don’t you promote a change which encourages more secret ballot voting to allow the employees to vote Yes or No to unionizing? Instead of insisting that all those opposed to unionizing have to be exposed individually so the union militants can intimidate them if they want to?
Is that the only way big labor can succeed, by intimidating the workers and bullying the ones who oppose the union?
If you’re afraid of intimidation from the employer, how does the new system (no secret ballot vote on whether to unionize) prevent that anymore than the old? Don’t the union organizers still have to openly enlist support or sign-ups from workers? So how does the new system (suppressing the secret ballot) prevent continued employer intimidation of union organizers?
I still don’t get it? Or maybe I still don’t understand what a free choice really means? A secret ballot or no secret ballot: the decision is written on the authorization card with a check point that says an accept or reject for the organizing drive.
Other point andy employer that fires or intimidates any worker for signing a card or for even speaking to a pro union person, that employer gets a stiff fine for every labor law viiolation.
Get a grip: this ACT makes the NLRA a real law and not just another roll of toilet paper that most laws written get used for.
I do get it but why some other folks is still beyond me! Unions dont do the bullying and dont push peoples backs up against the wall to keep from feeding their families with some decent health benefits, pensions and annuity funds. It is legal to be open about being union and that means the bosses can not break the law and likewise we can push for real democracy not just in November but at the workplace too!
Cross your fingers and hope that all the Democrats have enough guts to push this forward in the Senate. There are some rats amongst the Democrats and we shall see if they show their colors.
What a scam the corporate conservatives are running. Anyone who has seen an organizing election knows that there is nothing free and fair about it. It is about the boss buying time to threaten and intimidate the workers - firing themand scaring them. When you organize for a political party do you do it by election? No. You ask people to sign a card to become a Republican, Democrat or other. We have run the foundation of our democracy by having people sign cards, but now because unionization is involved it is supposed to be evil. As someone who has asked people to sign cards for registering with political parties and unionizing, I can attest that Americans don’t have the least bit of trepidation about saying “No” to either.
I’m afraid that this card check rule is unconstitutional and will be found so by the Supreme Court. It is opening up the way for employees to be intimidated and threatened into supporting unionization by making their votes open for union scrutiny. Do you also support signing ballots in general elections so that those who don’t agree with you can be attacked?
The bill gives employers the choice of a card check or a secret ballot. The Republicans are beating a dead horse when it comes to them constantly crying foul over the omission of the secret ballot. If that is their only opposition to the EFCA, then it should not be a problem for them. The option for a secret ballot or card check is there and it can be decided by the workers, not management. Employees need somebody on their corner of the ring and it won’t be their employer. It will be the union of their choice.
As a former boss/supervisor, my staff voted to join a union (the vote was 4-3 in favor via secret ballot). One of the employess initiated the drive to become unionized and I let him handle the voting process. When my office became unionized—to my surprise—I had a great relationship with the union that I worked with and its representative. So much so that when I relinquished my position of supervisor (and then went full-time to part-time) to take another full-time job, I became the union steward for the office.
Unions do great things for working, middle-class families and they are a great asset to the average working man and woman. There is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to the EFCA. I hope it passes with flying colors.
-W³, AFSCME Local 1199
When Union Carbide put a plant, just outside of Lawrenceburg, Tenn.,
the county wouldn’t provide water, power, or sewage for them, so they
dammed up Shoal Creek to provide water and power and built their own
water treatment plant. Why is it that companies that pay family wages in
Tennessee are discriminated against?
I remember when Saturn built a plant in Springhill and how anti union
people, howled that it wasn’t right that they were importing and
employing all these layoff auto makers before hiring other people, yet
when Murray Ohio moved down to Lawrenceburg, Tenn, to get away from the
union, the anti union crowd held out their arms and told them “way to go”.
They like it even better when Murray Ohio paid substandard wages
and the substandard wages became the standard for Lawrence county.
Why do the senators of Tennessee, like Senator Bob Corker hate their
state so much that they are willing to sacrifice 1,000 of jobs unless
the people become working slaves? Why doesn’t he go to bat for and try to
keep the Saturn plant from closing its doors in his state?
It seems like they want to bring back
the pre-civil war days when a business would own its employees and call
them slaves. Why do they want to deny people a chance to have a decent
life by making a decent wage? I would not want them to become a victim
of their actions, but I think they should put yourself in the place of
the people they are screwing over and see if you can show a little bit
of compassion and empathy toward them. I find it appalling that some
people don’t want working people to have a decent life and to make a
family wage so that they will have an adequate amount of money to raise
their children so that their children will turn out to be something more
than a bunch of illiterate hillbilly ridge runners.
I would want to take you back in history for a little bit. If it
weren’t for the hard working union people, working in the shipyards and
other places, there is no way that we would have been able to win WW2.
So why is it that the very things that enabled us to win WW2 are now
being attacked by you?
At the same time, why is it that Senator Bob Corker has turned his back
on the same, hard working union members that put themselves in harms way
after the attacks on the world trade center happen? Union members who
trusted and believed in the US and went in the rubble to find and help
survivors of the attacks and now have serious heath problems because of
the unsafe working conditions they had when they were saving people.
Union members who put other people ahead of their own lives and heath.
Again I don’t understand why does Senator Bob Corker hate those people
who have gave so much?
If the Democratic majority in Congress fails to pass the EFCA, they will no longer be worthy of our support. Should they choose to act like their anti-labor GOP colleagues, they should be treated as such.
It’s now or never! No more excuses! Do Democrats support working class men and women?
The outcome of the EFCA will answer that question.
To John Kar:
It appears you don’t know the first thing about organizing.
A union just doesn’t suddenly show up at a worksite and decide to hold an election. It first gathers pledge cards from people who want the union! When a sufficient majority sign the cards the process moves to a representational election.
People sign pledge cards willingly. There is no coercion to do so. Pledge cards are signed. They are not secret. The union knows who signed one. Unfortunately, so do employers.
In the past year thousands of people who signed pledge cards have been illegally fired for “union activity”.
The EFCA would end that injustice.
Stop parroting the anti-labor line being put out there by the GOP. This is a union website. Go someplace else to peddle anti-union propaganda!
With over 60% of union members wanting a private ballot, why are the union heads pushing this? With only 3% of Americans supporting card check why are union bosses pushing this?
With Democrat legislators saying this is going to lose in the Senate and resenting the unions for forcing a vote when our economy is weak, why are union bosses pushing this?
With the lessons of Detroit, how can any American who has passed just one economics course support this?
Almost every CEO of every small and large company is violently opposed to this is because they want to keep jobs in the US and they want to be competitive. They do not want to be denied the opportunity to tell their case to employees. They do not want their employees intimidated. They do not want some government bureaucrat telling them how they should pay their employees and how their hands can be tied so they can’t compete.
During this national economic challenge, can you think of a more divisive issue?
Those pushing this issue will not only not get this into law - they will further divide the country. This is when we should work together.
Employers are not the enemy. They create jobs. Your worst enemy is weak or unethical employers, many of whom are sucking our dollars away through bailouts!
This has to be the worst timed piece of legislation in history!
Next thing you will want to tax investments so employers can’t even invest in their competitiveness?
to gary shapiro i dont know if you have ever been involved in an organizing campaign? but if you had you would know how difficult it is with the n.l.r.b. a govt agency that has helped companies defeat legal elections looked the other way when owners break the laws and intimidate workers, who want to better the lives of themselves and their families.the e.f.c.a. will not take away seceret ballot as your republican big lie overlords keep saying. the n.l.r.b. and osha have been stripped by cheney-bush and their big buisiness buddies like walmart and home depot who say that life as we know it will end and that they dont want anyone else to have their hand on the wheel as they put it.when anyone feels that when people who work for a living are incapable of knowing what is best for themselves, that person or persons are closed to anything but their own prejudiced views. american workers need the e.f.c.a. and need it now!!!!
Mr. Shapiro,
The percentages in your first paragraph are way off. Where in the world did you get those numbers from? Out of the blue?
Yeah, in your dreams. They are pushing for it because it is the right thing to do.
Almost every CEO is violently opposed to this because their golden parachutes will be gone. You want the status quo to continue: High productivity with stagnant wages, unaffordable health care, and 401(k)s that are tied to the stock market in lieu of guaranteed pensions. That is no longer acceptable. The EFCA will finally level the playing field, where workers and their middle class families can have the same benefits and security and compensation that the CEOs and their upper class families currently enjoy. It’s about time and there is no time like right now, especially given the severe economic recession families are going through…right now!
Millions of jobs have already went overseas. The EFCA will prevent that from happening. You have got it backwards, Mr. Shapiro. Oh, employers are definitely telling their case now…via intimidation, spreading disinformation and misinformation, and conducting illegal firings on those who try to form a union. You can’t forcibly stop employees from unionizing. The EFCA prevents this kind of unacceptable behavior by employers from happening. An employer can still make their case as to why employees should not join a union, but the aforementioned strong-armed tactics will be a thing of the past.
Tell me, Mr. Shapiro, where is the tax headquarters of your company located? I’m willing to bet it is not in the USA, but somewhere overseas where the tax laws are weak, like Bermuda, the Caribbean, or Switzerland, for example. Just wondering.
-W³
The numbers are from two different surveys - we had no part in doing.
Our HQ and employees are in Arlington, VA. We have only one overseas employee in China and he helps our companies export and import. Plus he helps get several thousand people to the United States each year to our trade show.
We use 1000s of great union workers at our show in Las Vegas. They are highly skilled and we appreciate them greatly.
The fact is that this bill will reduce the number of jobs in the US. The first six items the commenter below lists attributing to unions were exactly the reasons unions were important and necessary but have nothing to do with unions now. These are all laws protecting all workers.
Tell me again why job banks are important and how they helped Detroit compete?
Tell me why Mr. Hoffa said yesterday a private ballot is not part of Democracy.
Tell me why Congress should pass a law today which will reduce jobs?
I’m sorry, sir, I just don’t see the connection between passage of the EFCA and an impending job loss as a result of its passage. As I mentioned on my first post on this thread, we have a great working relationship with our union. We have maintained the same number of employees before and after our office became unionized and we are happy to be part of our union. Our union representative is very hands-off, lets us do our jobs, does all of the negotiating with management on our behalf, and has helped us receive higher increases in wages above and beyond the current WHD levels. It would be unfair of us to complain about anything the union has done for us. Naturally, we took a hit with the recession in that we no longer receive personal leave as a benefit (we hope that gets reversed when the economy rebounds), but our wages have never gone down and we hope it stays that way.
P.S. I am not aware of the entirety of what Mr. Hoffa had to say.
Free choice will certainly help but American workers were back stabbed by Congress by not allowing E verify to be renewed so we have several million competitors for our jobs. Those Senators who are trying to destroy the American working families must be voted out of office or impeached.
Thank God,
When this bill passes it is going to change this country. Everyone who has had to make the choice between standing up to a manager and risking their job or letting someone treat them like a child for one more day because you need this job knows how important this is.
Unions are the only way working people can have a decent life in this country
To all of you that keep bringing up UNION BOSSES,I would like to know just what that phrase means as a forty year union member I have never met one.No one has forced me to give money to something I did not want to,no one forced me to join a union, I sought them out,no one has ever told me how to vote or who to vote for,no one has ever told me to strike or not to strike.So just what is it you have against so called UNION BOSSES?You should educated yourselves more on what a union is before you condemn it.Here are a few reason’s you should be glad there are UNIONS.
1.40 hour week
2.Pension plans
3.Health care
4.Vacation pay
5.Child labor laws
6.Work place safety
7.A way to get part of the profits that you produce
8.A way to reconcile differences of opinion
These are just a few of the benefits union members enjoy if you don’t want them fine, but do not try to prevent others from having them.I’ll tell you one more thing if you have any of the above things at your place of employment it is because there are UNIONS.
Well put! I work for a major grocery retailer in St. Louis, and hopefully this will level the playing field for the fight against Wal Mart. They will be forced to behave in a human capacity, and not make us(taxpayers) pick up the tab for the healthcare they refuse to pay their employees. This company is what is wrong with business today, and it is simply put in one word; GREED! Go to Wakeupwalmart.com to see just how corrupt they are, and how bad they are for small and large business alike.