Employee Free Choice Act: Restoring the Balance

by Seth Michaels, Jun 1, 2009

Two great op-eds this week—one from an Arkansas minister and one from a Maine elected official and Iraq war veteran—make the case that America’s workers need the Employee Free Choice Act.

Writing in the northwest Arkansas Morning News, the Rev. Roger Joslin of All Saints Episcopal Church in Bentonville tells the compelling story of how his father had the chance to provide for his family because he belonged to a union. All workers need that opportunity, the Rev. Joslin says:

There currently exists a stark imbalance of power between corporations and the workers who make corporations successful.

Without an employee’s ability to organize with others, power lies exclusively in the hands of the company owners and management. The Employee Free Choice Act, currently being considered by Congress, would begin to redress this imbalance by making it easier for employees to form unions.

Because he was a member of a union, my father could aspire to a middle-class life, send his children to college and have pride in his work. God’s call for the dignity of all humanity requires people of faith to respect the employees’ right to raise their voices collectively, without intimidation and fear of reprisal.

Maine state Rep. Alex Conell de Houx, an Iraq war veteran, writes in the Bath Times-Record that we need to make sure that those who have served their country in the armed forces need to come home to an economy that provides them real opportunities and a real voice.

The real debate comes down to whether you think corporate CEOs or workers should get to decide how workers form their union. Today, the boss decides for you. The Employee Free Choice Act puts that decision back in the hands of workers.

Right now, as working families are struggling in this economy, we need the Employee Free Choice Act to land on the president’s desk without delay. Union membership not only leads to better pay, health care, pensions and job security for workers—it’s good for the economy, too. When working people can bargain together for their fair share, the increased purchasing power stimulates the economy.

That helps local communities and businesses to prosper. That’s a sustainable stimulus package for Maine, and for America.

In the midst of today’s economic uncertainty, we need to be doing everything we can to strengthen and grow the middle class. Working people know that the power to bargain collectively is the surest way to secure livable wages and quality health care.

The Employee Free Choice Act is the key to making sure that working families earn their fair share for their hard work.

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