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As Momentum Builds, Workers Speak Out on Employee Free Choice |
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| Wisconsin health care workers deliver thousands of postcards in support of Employee Free Choice to Sen. Herb Kohl. |
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| Louisiana union members rally for Employee Free Choice at the State Capitol. |
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| Sen. Michael Bennet attended the Colorado Letter Carriers’ chili cook-off. |
With momentum building for the Employee Free Choice Act, workers across the country are taking the lead in the fight—speaking out at town hall meetings and rallies and asking their senators to pass this critical bill and make the economy work for everyone.
Here are a few of the ways workers are making a difference.
Ken Bruner, a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot and the president of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 107, spoke at a roundtable about the Employee Free Choice Act in Louisiana last week and said the freedom to form unions can benefit workers and businesses alike.
“When the pilots at Air Logistics decided to form a union, we quickly saw vast improvements in our wages, benefits and voice in the workplace. We work with our management to solve problems and make our company better now; they respect us and we respect them. As a result of our union, we are able to do our jobs better and safer.
As I said, our wages increased once we had our collective bargaining agreement, but our productivity did, too.”
David Flores, a registered nurse and a members of Local 5001 of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP), took part in delivery of 20,000 postcards and petition signatures to Sen. Herbert Kohl (D) last week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Flores hopes the bill will pass to make sure everyone has the chance he has had for a voice at work and the ability to care for their family:
I am here today thinking about the future. No matter what my daughters become when they grow up, I want to make sure that they are treated fairly in the workplace.
In Colorado, members of the Letters Carriers (NALC) got the chance to talk to one of their senators directly. Sen. Michael Bennet (D), a critical vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, attended the annual chili cook-off of NALC Branch 5996.
Workers also are taking the case to their local papers by writing letters to the editor. In Pennsylvania, retiree Robert Swavely writes to the Delco Daily Times that the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to maintaining the middle class, which now is under threat from anti-worker tactics by corporations:
As a retiree who has benefited greatly from union membership, it scares me to think that my children and grandchildren won’t have access to the same type of benefits and pension I have enjoyed.
A new report by the Economic Policy Institute confirms my worst fears. Companies are engaging in increasingly immoral and even illegal activity to prevent working people from bargaining for a better future.
Swavely goes on to ask Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (D) to support the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate.
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