Lots of Action in Lots of States in Support of Employee Free Choice

by Seth Michaels, Apr 29, 2009

Hundreds of Colorado union members turned out to show their support for Employee Free Choice at a town hall meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet.

Louisiana union members delivered hundreds of letters to Sen. Mary Landrieu.

At a town hall meeting in Colorado and events in key states, union members and allies are asking their senators to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone.

Don Slaiman, who’s working on the Employee Free Choice Act campaign in the critical state of Colorado, reports that recently appointed Sen. Michael Bennet visited Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 68 hall to hear from workers about the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s one of several town hall meetings Bennet has held around the state, and workers are showing him how strong and broad their support is, Slaiman says:

“We had over 400 union members in attendance, representing…almost every local and every part of the state. The appearance, energy, sentiments, diversity and breadth of participation were tremendous. Bennet heard from Spanish speakers, aged activists, apprentices, Working America activists, our constituency organizations, community service volunteers, health and safety activists, injured workers, faith leaders, entrepreneurs, academics, members who testified to loving their unions and depending on them to stay out of hock, in the middle class and in this country, labor lawyers, managers who admitted to violating workers’ rights and those on the frontlines of the economic struggle who have had their rights to form a union violated. The entire gamut of the movement educated Sen. Bennet and implored him to understand how our nation benefits from a vibrant and compassionate labor movement.”

Indeed, tens of thousands of letters from union members, religious groups and a broad array of community members, combined with rallies and community events, are helping push forward the Employee Free Choice Act around the country.

In Louisiana, Sen. Mary Landrieu’s Shreveport office got a visit from a delegation of union members bringing hundreds of letters in support of Employee Free Choice last week. Petition drives, letter deliveries, town halls and teach-ins are happening from coast to coast, in Montana, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Nebraska. In Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin students and faculty held a teach-in in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (see video).

In Pennsylvania, state Rep. David Levdansky introduced a resolution in the state House in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, saying:

This is the right time to pass Employee Free Choice and the best way to stimulate the economy by putting more money into the pockets of workers and giving them fair wages, good benefits, better working conditions while growing the middle class and making America what it’s intended to be.

In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous points to stagnant wages, increasing consumer debt and schedules that don’t work for families as a sign that we need real reform and more bargaining power for workers.

We have these problems because corporations have too much power. They can amass huge profits, pollute the environment, evade taxation, and skirt workers’ rights. And they’ve actively eroded the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain for fair wages, better benefits, and job security.

The Employee Free Choice Act is an equitable solution. This legislation, which allows employees to organize through signature cards or elections, would ensure that workers, once again, have the option of forming a union if a majority wants one. Companies could no longer veto their choice. It would put real penalties behind laws that forbid company harassment and prevent corporations from stalling until employees lose faith.

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