From the Field: The Battle’s Just Beginning

by Seth Michaels, Apr 3, 2009

We’re heading into what might be the biggest two weeks yet in the fight for enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Members of Congress are returning home for the April recess, and workers and their allies are participating in hundreds of events—phone banking, leafleting, letter writing, meeting with lawmakers in town halls and rallying with allies—to make sure their elected officials pass the Employee Free Choice Act. More than 300 events are scheduled during this critical period.

On Tuesday, union members from across northern Indiana gathered in Valparaiso to show support for workers at Georgia Pacific, who fought hard to form a union but two years later still haven’t achieved a contract. One worker was even fired during the fight for a union, an abuse that, unfortunately, happens in one out of every four union elections.

Michael O’Brien of the Steelworkers (USW) said the experience of Georgia Pacific workers shows how badly broken our system of labor law is, and how much we need a new law to change it: 

We should not allow this to happen in America…this issue is an example, a perfect example, of why we need the Employee Free Choice Act to pass.

Brian McIntosh, a former worker at Georgia Pacific, said that situation shows the need for diligent grassroots efforts in support of the Employee Free Choice Act: 

“We cannot stop. We have to continue this fight. It might be long, it might be hard, but we will win the battle. You need to get a hold of your congressperson; you need to tell them we need this act. We cannot continue to have union-busting going on like this. Enough is enough.” 

In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council organized a “Bucks Fans for the Employee Free Choice Act” day, creating a banner covered in signatures for delivery to Sen. Herb Kohl, who has not yet signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill introduced March 10. Wisconsin union members also held a rally for corporate accountability in Kenosha this week.

In Fort Smith, Ark., state AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Ricky Belk was among the union leaders who took part in a town hall meeting on the economy this week. He said union membership meant he and his wife could raise a family and join the middle class. Corporate dominance of the system for forming unions, he said, threatens that promise and the ability of workers to get fair wages and access to health care and pensions: 

What I had to do was work hard, play by the rules, be persistent and that I would have the opportunity to achieve the American dream. I’ve been very, very fortunate in that I’ve had a union representing me in the workplace….The economy we find ourselves in today doesn’t afford that opportunity for everybody. 

Allies of the Employee Free Choice Act continue to hold meetings with small business owners and community allies in support of the bill. The grassroots effort to restore workers’ freedom to form unions stretches from Maine to California, from Alaska to Florida, and we won’t stop fighting until we’ve passed the Employee Free Choice Act. 

For more news from the field, check out the Employee Free Choice Act field blog.

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