Op-Ed Highlights: Building Worker Power
Here are two great op-eds on the continuing fight for the Employee Free Choice Act.
In North Carolina’s News & Observer, Arne Kalleberg, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, calls the Employee Free Choice Act an “effective tool” for workers to improve their own lives and communities.
The Employee Free Choice Act, Kalleberg says:
…would help to level the playing field by giving workers a real opportunity to decide whether or not they wish to be represented by a union. Studies by sociologists and economists have demonstrated conclusively that unions raise wages and benefits for working people and protect them from discrimination and unsafe workplaces.
It would provide some ballast to out-of-control business lobbying influence and it would help us to resume the long American march toward a more humane and democratic society. It protects America’s employees’ freedom to choose whether or not to form a union and provides them with the opportunity to improve their economic situation.
Employee Free Choice Act Backers Out by the Hundreds of Thousands This Summer
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More than 150,000 union members and supporters turned out for events, rallies, parades and picnics in recent days, to show their support for the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions and bargain for a better life.
In a letter to the Baton Rouge Advocate, Michael Day, a member of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) in Louisiana, writes that in the face of more than 25,000 acts of discrimination against employees trying to form a union every year, Congress must pass the Employee Free Choice Act:
I can’t understand a good Democrat having a problem supporting a bill such as the Employee Free Choice Act that levels the playing field between employees and corporations and puts the choice of joining or not joining a union in the hands of working men and women.
I voted for change that I could believe in, not change that I can’t notice.
Maine Union Members Rally for Employee Free Choice
On Friday in Portland, Maine, dozens of union members and allies took to the street to demand justice for workers and the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members held a 23-minute vigil in Portland’s Lobsterman Park to highlight how a worker is discriminated against because of his or her union activity every 23 minutes. Union members rallied in support of restoring the freedom to form unions and bargain and asked their members of Congress, especially Sen. Olympia Snowe, to vote for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Maine AFL-CIO President Ed Gorham said:
It is a travesty that the workers of Maine have their right to association systematically denied by a process that provides no protection from harassment and intimidation. We are here to remind Senator Snowe that we need the Employee Free Choice Act, for our families and our communities.
Sept. 10: Day of Action on Employee Free Choice
The fight for workers’ freedom to form unions comes to Washington, D.C., tomorrow night, as advocates, activists and concerned citizens travel here to visit their senators and demand passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
More than 300 Employee Free Choice supporters from 15 states, including faith leaders, civil rights advocates, environmentalists, small business owners and members of a broad array of community groups will spend Sept. 10 on Capitol Hill asking their senators to support strong labor law reform. This diverse group understands that to restore an economy that works for everyone, we need to give workers the ability to form a union and bargain without intimidation or abuses from their bosses.
State delegations will hold send-off events tomorrow as they send advocates to Washington.
Louisiana’s Religious Community: We Need Employee Free Choice Now
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In an open letter to U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, 118 Louisiana ministers and religious leaders are demanding the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to protect dignity and justice for all workers.
Hailing from across the state and representing a broad spectrum of faiths, the coalition of religious leaders announced their support for the Employee Free Choice Act in a press conference in New Orleans yesterday. They presented their open letter and asked their senators to recognize that the vital freedom of workers to form unions and bargain is under threat.
The letter reads, in part:
Whenever people stand together in mutual commitment and for the common purpose of promoting and protecting their most essential dignity—a dignity that issues directly from God—then we as people of faith and good conscience have a moral responsibility to stand with them. We have a responsibility to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. We make this appeal to the conscience of every Member of Congress.
Employee Free Choice Act Hits the Airwaves Over Labor Day
Members of Congress will be returning to Washington, D.C., next week, and they’ll get a reminder that America’s workers need the Employee Free Choice Act. The campaign to get the U.S. Senate and House to restore the freedom to form unions and bargain kicks off the fall with two TV ads.
The two ads, “We Don’t Ask” and “Fabric of America,” connect the Employee Free Choice Act to a healthier economy, where workers have a chance to join the middle class and get fair wages and benefits.
Produced by American Rights at Work, the ads will begin running on Labor Day around the country. In addition to the ads, supporters of the freedom to form unions will keep up their efforts calling, writing and speaking to members of Congress about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. On Sept. 10, allies of workers from a broad coalition are coming to Washington from 15 states to ask their senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Kimberly Freeman, executive director of American Rights at Work, says the ads are part of a large grassroots effort to restore a stronger, fairer economy:
We are redoubling our efforts to show how the Employee Free Choice Act will rebuild the economy and restore workers’ rights. As lawmakers return from the August recess, they will be reminded that Americans see the Employee Free Choice Act as fundamental to meaningful labor law reform and creating an economy that works for everyone.
You can help get great Employee Free Choice Act ads like these out by clicking here to donate to the Turn Around America Fund.
More than 100 Step Out for Employee Free Choice
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Last night, more than 100 union members and allies were treated to a rooftop view of the White House from the AFL-CIO’s eighth-floor verandas for their support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union leaders and activists joined the AFL-CIO’s officers—President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker—for an evening of music, food and a stunning view of the White House, where working people have an ally who will fight for good jobs, health care reform and an economy that works for everyone. President Barack Obama, who will speak at the upcoming AFL-CIO Convention, has pledged to sign the Employee Free Choice Act into law.
The AFL-CIO’s Scott Reynolds, who helped organize the event, said the event raised more than $10,000 for the Turn Around America Fund, which helps pay for the campaign to get out the truth about the Employee Free Choice Act. Reynolds said:
It was a perfect summer evening. Everybody had a great time, and we got the chance to hear inspiring words about why we need Employee Free Choice, as well as remember the bill’s sponsor and champion, Sen. Ted Kennedy.
You can still contribute to the Turn Around America Fund here and join the fight against corporate disinformation.
After 3 Years, Illinois Mental Health Workers Get a Contract
They fought for more than three years through a strike, a lockout and unfair treatment by management, and now mental health care workers at Heartland Human Services finally have a union contract.
The ordeal these workers went through to get their union contract is another example of why workers need the Employee Free Choice Act. If workers choose a union, they should get a fair first contract.
AFSCME reports that workers at Heartland, based in Effingham, Ill., formed a union with AFSCME Council 31 in February 2006. More than a year passed as workers tried to bargain for a fair first contract, and they finally decided to go on strike in July 2007. After a year on strike, workers tried to return to the bargaining table, but they were locked out by management, who refused to let them return to work. Finally, thanks to the hard work by Council 31 and action from the state of Illinois, which contracts with Heartland, Heartland and its workers have reached agreement on a contract that will let these hardworking mental health care workers get back to serving those in need.
Report: We Need Unions to Build an Economy with Good Jobs
A strong, sustainable economy doesn’t just depend on job creation—it depends on the creation of good jobs in which employees are paid fairly and receive health care and retirement benefits.
As workers across the country know, we’ve been heading in the wrong direction, and to turn the economy around, we need to give workers a shot at bargaining for a better life.
In a new report, “Creating Decent Jobs in the United States,” Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts takes a close look at trends in employment, wages and benefits. She concludes that we need to make real policy changes to help improve jobs in this country—including restoring the freedom to form unions by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.
Get the Best View in D.C. and Help Support Employee Free Choice
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Join us at the AFL-CIO tomorrow night to take in the best view in Washington, D.C.—from our top floor looking across Lafayette Park, the White House and beyond—and help support the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act.
From our eighth-floor balcony, you’ll get a chance to enjoy food, music and a stunning view of the White House—where, after eight years, we now have a friend to working families.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker will host the reception.
WHAT: Employee Free Choice Act fundraiser
WHERE: AFL-CIO, 815 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. If you’re taking Metro, we’re a short block from the McPherson Square station, White House exit.
WHEN: Wednesday, Sept 2, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
