Wis. Union Families Thank Supporters of Employee Free Choice
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Sara Wallenfang, field communications coordinator for the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, reports on the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Around the country, the grassroots campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act is gathering support from people of all ages. Here in Wisconsin, members of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC) are getting the whole family involved by sending Valentine’s Day cards to members of Congress, thanking them for their support of the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
At last week’s labor council meeting, parents and kids alike took part in the effort to thank Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and 4th District U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore for their past support of the Employee Free Choice Act and to encourage them to quickly pass it into law this year.
Fair Pay Hearing Shows Why Pay Discrimination Isn’t OK
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When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in 2007 that Lilly Ledbetter waited too long to file a lawsuit after experiencing 20 years of pay discrimination by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Ledbetter says it sent a “loud and clear” message to Big Business.
With regard to pay discrimination, there are lots of other companies out there that got the Supreme Court’s message loud and clear: They will not be punished for discriminating, if they do it long enough and cover it up well enough.
She testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday at a hearing examining pay discrimination and barriers to equal pay for equal work. Last year, after the court’s decision, the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that, in effect, would reverse the ruling. But Senate Republicans, with the support of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have blocked Senate action.
