Maine GOP State Legislator Supports Employee Free Choice Act, and Other Highlights from Around the Country
Guess who’s joining the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act in Maine?
It’s state Rep. Jim Campbell, a Republican who is defying the expectations of pundits and corporate shills by supporting workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain. He has appeared at public events around the state and written in local news outlets to show his support for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Here’s what Campbell says about the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and its importance to rebuilding the economy:
Common-sense solutions should be used to create good jobs that can support a family and put money back into our economy. Historically, no institution has been as effective at improving the quality of life for working families as membership in a union. Union members earn better wages, have better health care coverage and can count on a more secure retirement than nonunion workers.
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California Veterans, Union Members Want Employee Free Choice
A coalition of veterans who are union members and other supporters of the freedom to form unions are gathering today in Los Angeles to send a strong message: Pass the Employee Free Choice Act now to give veterans the chance they need for a better life.
Organized by the L.A. County Federation of Labor, these union veterans will rally outside the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, urging her and all of California’s members of Congress to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.
As part of the rally, these veterans and workers will debut a new video that shows why veterans need the Employee Free Choice Act. This video includes testimony from a number of veterans who spoke at an April town hall meeting in Los Angeles attended by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
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.
More Die on Job in New York State Because of Bush’s Safety and Health Cuts
Eight years of Bush administration cutbacks in funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), particularly for an adequate inspection force, puts New York state workers at greater risk of dying on the job, a new report reveals.
“Dying for Work in New York,” released yesterday, also says immigrant, minority and nonunion workers are at greater risk on the job. The report was sponsored by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), the New York State AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council.
Oregon Bill Bans Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings
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When Oregon workers are choosing to form a union and bargain for a better life, they would not be forced to attend coercive, mandatory anti-union meetings by management under the Worker Freedom Act passed Monday by the Oregon State Senate. It now goes to the House, where it won approval in 2007.
The legislation will make it illegal for an employer to discipline or fire a worker who chooses not to attend a meeting on politics, religion or union organizing during work hours.
Says Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain:
Workers should not have to give up their opinions or be lectured about their employer’s beliefs to get a paycheck.
Faith Leaders, Working Women Take Action to Support Employee Free Choice Act
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This morning, 20 religious leaders in Hammond, Ind., met with union members from the Northwest Indiana Federation of Labor to talk about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act and sign a letter to Sen. Evan Bayh asking him to support workers’ freedom to form unions.
Today’s breakfast is just a small part of a national effort on behalf of faith communities in support of the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members, religious leaders, Working America members and a wide range of allies have made their voices heard with prayer vigils and rallies at Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s offices all around Arkansas, including Little Rock, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Texarkana and El Dorado. They’ve also held vigils in Indiana, including events in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, as well as Omaha, Neb., and Missoula, Mont.
Join Your Friends and Neighbors June 6 in the Fight for Real Health Care Reform
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This Saturday, you can join with your friends and neighbors in the fight to win the kind of real health care reform that President Obama describes as vital to ensure quality health care for all and to revitalize the economy.
That’s the day Organizing for America is holding thousands of events in private homes and community centers around the country to discuss real health care reform and craft plans to build local support and help pass health care reform. Click here to find an event near you. Enter your ZIP code and you will get a list of events, contact numbers and names and directions.
Unions, Allies: Once in a Lifetime Opportunity to Create Jobs of the Future
California Labor Federation communications organizer Rebecca Greenberg reports on the organization’s Building Workforce Partnerships conference.
Economic stimulus, green jobs, energy efficiency…these are terms workers have been hearing quite a bit about lately. This week in San Jose, Calif., unions, government, business and environmentalists joined leading economists at the California Labor Federation’s annual Building Workforce Partnerships conference to address the potential of jointly addressing economic security, energy independence and government stimulus to build a fundamentally stronger economy for America’s workers.
24-Hour Vigil Highlights Busy Week of Action for Employee Free Choice
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| Louisiana union members are among the thousands who are rallying in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Supporters of the freedom to form unions and bargain, including faith and civil rights groups as well as union members, are holding a 24-hour vigil outside Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office to encourage her to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
This vigil, which began last night, is one of more than 200 grassroots events across the nation this week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. With rallies, roundtables, phone banks and worksite visits, workers are encouraging members of Congress back in their home districts this week to vote in support of workers and a fairer, stronger economy. Senators across the country have received tens of thousands of letters and phone calls from union members and allies, and that momentum is building this week.
Acuff Debates Chamber Honcho as Employee Free Choice Gains Momentum
As part of the national campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff has been traveling the country to get out the message and help unions mobilize. On his recent trip to Indiana, he got a chance to debate with one of the bill’s most prominent opponents—Randel Johnson, a vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—at the Indiana University law school. It was a great opportunity to explain why we need new law to protect workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.
Acuff tells the powerful story of rising worker productivity that hasn’t been matched by improvements in wages. Instead, workers face rising heath care costs and economic insecurity, which have led to unsustainable debt, the collapse of purchasing power and, ultimately, the current economic crisis. What happened, Acuff asks, to cause this imbalance?
There has been a systematic, strategic assault on workers, on unions and on the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively. We’re the only democracy in the world today where workers do not have the fundamental freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.
They have the freedom, guaranteed in the law, if they’re willing to risk their car, their house, their livelihood and their job. Last year more than 29,000 workers were retaliated against or fired for trying to exercise that legally protected union activity. Our law has no teeth: 40 percent of all the workers who jump through all the hoops to form a union will never get a first contract, will never get the fruit of collective bargaining.
