SEARCH
Why We Fight for Employee Free Choice |
|
Union members across the country are fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. We know how union membership has improved our lives and communities—and we want to help other workers have the same options. Check out the videos here in which two union members describe how their experiences having a union at work inspired them to get involved in the Employee Free Choice Act campaign.
Justin Nickels, a member of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 204 in Arkansas, talks about what having a union has meant to him in workplace safety and dignity on the job:
Through the union, I was able to learn skills that I apply today. I was able to learn about this idea of a brotherhood…we learn a level of trust and we work together really closely.
Unions provide a sense of stability when things are tough. You have benefits, you have health care, when you or people in your family are sick you can stay home and take care of it. That’s something that’s important, that I think a lot of people are missing right now, and that’s why the Employee Free Choice Act is needed.
Denalie Bruins, a nurse and member of AFSCME Local 398 in Montana, just finished a tough contract negotiation in which she and her co-workers successfully protected their wages, benefits and working conditions. She says she’s fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act to give everyone that kind of opportunity:
It has been eye-opening realizing that a lot of people have not had the benefits that I’ve had, and learning that other places have to struggle really hard in order to just organize and form a union—and sometimes workers get fired.
Having a union gives us a voice, and a sense of camaraderie. We’re not isolated this way. Often, we find, what’s right for this sister, is right for another sister or brother. And nurses have a place to go to with frustrations.
We want others to enjoy the benefits that we have.
Like thousands of union members across the country, Bruins and Nickels are speaking out publicly and contacting their U.S. senators in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
No Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
