Pennsylvania Workers: Our Communities Need Employee Free Choice Act

Molly Theobald reports on the fight for Employee Free Choice in Pennsylvania.

Each and every day, firefighters, teachers and letter carriers serve our communities; caring for us and keeping us safe. Today, in Scranton, members of the Fire Fighters (IAFF), AFT, Letter Carriers (NALC), the Scranton Central Labor Council and the Northeast Area Labor Federation got together for a roundtable discussion on how our communities are strengthened by giving these men and women the tools they need to do their jobs effectively through the Employee Free Choice Act.

Fair wages, quality health benefits and the resources and tools to do their jobs are all secured through collectively bargaining—and those who serve our communities are testament to how protecting the freedom to form unions makes our communities stronger.

George George, a NALC executive board member, says he wants everyone in his community to have the same chance he did to join a union and have a fair share:

As a letter carrier for 30 years, I am out in the community every day. People treat me like family instead of just some person delivering their mail. And I know through conversations that people are hurting in this economy and working two jobs at a time just to stay afloat. Many of them would have a union if they could. That is where the Employee Free Choice Act comes in.

David Gervasi, vice president of IAFF Local 60, says workers who put their life on the line for their communities—and all workers—deserve the chance to bargain for fair treatment:

At an inherently dangerous job, my union has been there to make sure we are safe and we are prepared for anything. In order for us to do our jobs and protect the community, we need to be protected in turn and that is what a union does. The entire community can only benefit from making sure its members are receiving fair wages, benefits and safety at the workplace. That is why I, as a union member, support other workers’ right to form a union and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Nancy Krake, president of the Scranton Central Labor Council, said she knows what good union jobs mean for her community:

Many of us in Scranton come from union families. We know what it means to have a family that feels secure, that knows it can afford health care, and that knows it is protected at the workplace. We want that for the whole community and we feel that the best first step to accomplishing that is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Patrick McDonough, secretary-treasurer of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, an AFT local, agrees that unions are an essential tool for workers to fight for a better life for themselves and their families:

As teachers, we see the effects of this economic crisis every day when we see our students. Many of our students’ parents are working multiple jobs and barely staying afloat. Through our union we are able to fight for smaller class sizes and for other things that make the classroom a better place for our students. Union workers are very invested in the community and better able to give back to the workplace. I know that the Employee Free Choice Act will be good not only for workers who want a union, but to all the people in the community around them.

Pennsylvania’s economy, like that of the nation, is in shambles, and America’s middle class is getting weaker every day. We need practical solutions to confront the challenges we all face; and, rebuild an economy that works for every one. We need to create well-paying jobs that benefit the community; one clear way to do that is by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

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