Widespread Support for Employee Free Choice Act in Colorado

Yesterday morning a group of clergy members delivered a letter in support of the Employee Free Choice Act to the offices of Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet. They represent a coalition of more than 120 faith leaders from around Colorado who have come together to support the legislation, which they see as critical to restoring a fair and prosperous economy for all. The signers of the letter include Protestant ministers, Rabbis, Roman Catholic priests and sisters, an Imam, and a Zen Buddhist priest.”

America’s faith traditions are nearly unanimous in support of the right of workers to organize free from employer retaliation,” said the Rev. Dr. Dana Wilbanks, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics, Iliff School of Theology. “By using sacred text and tradition, our faith compels us to support the Employee Free Choice Act and to support the freedom of workers to collectively bargain for a shot at a better life for themselves and their families.”

Over the past 30 years, workers’ living standards have declined in well-documented ways—stagnant or low pay, longer hours spent at work, unaffordable or no health care benefits, and unsafe working conditions. Increasing disparity of wealth seems to be the hallmark of our time, with the top 1 percent of wage earners in the United States now holding 23 percent of all income—the highest inequality in income since 1928.

“As religious leaders, we believe that the right of workers to freely organize their workplaces is required in a democracy, and communities are strengthened when workers can bargain for fair wages, adequate benefits and safe working conditions,” said the Rev. Linda Gertenbach, the Peace and Justice Facilitator of the United Methodist Rocky Mountain Church and Society Network.

“This legislation would allow workers to form and join unions as certainly and as freely as they might join a church community or a civic organization. As a people of faith, we are committed to the health of our nation, its economy, and to the working men and women who provide us with indispensible goods and vitally necessary services. We make this appeal to the conscience of every member of the U.S. Congress to vote in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Roman Catholic Bishop Gabino Zavala of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The following is a cross-post from the Colorado AFL-CIO Employee Free Choice Act blog.

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