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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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.
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.
Coerced, Harassed, Suspended: A Virginia Worker’s Case for Employee Free Choice
Billy Mason, a Virginia factory worker, is one of the thousands of workers who has suffered unfair treatment while trying to exercise the freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.
Writing in southeast Virginia’s Daily Press, Mason talks vividly about the struggles he went through to form a union.
Imagine a football game between one team with cleats, helmets and shoulder pads playing another that doesn’t have any equipment at all. It’s not only that companies have all kinds of advantages, but also that workers are so vulnerable to abuse. The Employee Free Choice Act will help even the playing field.
I’ve been through two organizing campaigns, and I hope my experience will explain why we desperately need this legislation.
Obama, Union Members Nationwide Focus on Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday, at a town hall meeting in New Mexico, President Obama reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, capping off a busy week of grassroots activity around the country in support of this critical bill.
Obama acknowledged there’s a tough fight ahead, but expressed his concern that current labor law isn’t fair to workers and needs to be changed if we’re going to rebuild the middle class.
…the scales have been tilted to make it really hard to form a union. So a lot of companies, because they want maximum flexibility, they would rather spend a lot of money on consultants and lawyers to prevent a union from forming than they would just going ahead and having the union and then trying to work with—and collectively—allow workers to collectively bargain.
So there’s a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act that would try to even out the playing field. And what it would essentially say is, is that if a majority of workers at a company want a union then they can get a union without delay—and some of the monkey business that’s done right now to prevent them from having a union.
Veterans, Small Business Owners Step up Fight for Employee Free Choice
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Military veterans in Maine, Arkansas and around the country are calling for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act this week. In cooperation with national veterans groups, these veterans are holding meetings, writing letters and speaking about the need to restore the basic freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.
Stephen Jackson, a Vietnam veteran from North Carolina who is both the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4312 and a member of Steelworkers (USW) Local 1283, took to the pages of the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald in a great op-ed on the Employee Free Choice Act:
The men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our country deserve a chance to be a part of the American dream. They deserve a job that puts food on the table and a roof over the family’s heads. They deserve benefits so that they and their families can be healthy and thrive. They deserve the right to join any organization that will help improve their situation. They deserve to have the chance to be a part of the middle class and help rebuild our economy…
The Employee Free Choice Act will give veterans a better chance when they get back home to get better jobs with better benefits, and a better shot at the middle class. I support the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s my way of honoring those who served our country.
Veterans Push for Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday in Norfolk, Va., union veterans held the first event of what will be a nationwide campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, uniting union and nonunion veterans from across the country in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain.
In a dozen states, VoteVets.org, Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP), Veterans’ Alliance for Security and Democracy (VETPAC) and the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council are teaming up to host military veterans, family members and union members for rallies, roundtable discussions and mobilization events. More than 2 million union members—14 percent of all union members—are veterans and, along with national veterans’ groups, they’re ready to mobilize for a level playing field in the workplace and the freedom to bargain for the economic opportunity they deserve.
Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and the chairman of VoteVets.org, says freedom of assembly and the right to bargain for a better life is a critical part of the American promise that needs to be kept.
Vets, Small Business Owners Back Employee Free Choice
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Many of America’s veterans have come out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act, among them, active and retired union members who have served in the armed forces. In Arkansas, these vets got together Wednesday for a briefing to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act. They discussed how the freedom to form a union and fairness and respect in the workplace are among the values for which they fought.
David Anderson, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran and president of the Arkansas State Association of Letter Carriers, said the Employee Free Choice Act is needed to give workers who serve their country and community the opportunities they deserve:
The same workers who helped make these companies successful are intimidated and sometimes fired for trying to organize the workers in their job. What a sad way to treat those workers, especially the veterans.
Grassroots Actions Build Momentum for Employee Free Choice Act
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The Employee Free Choice Act has become one of the most-debated political topics in the country, as working people push to protect their freedom to form unions and deep-pocketed corporate groups spend big on anti-worker ads and disinformation campaigns. Over the past two weeks, union members and allies took part in more than 350 events in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, drawing attention all around the country to this critical bill. Here’s a sample of the grassroots actions supporting the national campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act.
* The Alaska Journal covered a heated debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, where economist John Schmitt and state AFL-CIO President Vince Beltrami argued their case against two representatives of corporate anti-worker groups.
* An op-ed in the Arkansas Times from a historian pointed to the need for Employee Free Choice to revitalize the economy.
* In the Denver Daily News, the “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act” campaign was featured, while in the Denver Post, small business owner Terri Monley said the Employee Free Choice Act would strengthen the economy.
Two Busy Weeks in the Fight for Employee Free Choice
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Nearly 100,000 phone calls to Congress. More than 27,000 letters to Congress. More than 400 community events. The fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act is the biggest grassroots union mobilization since the election, and it’s happening across the country.
The “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act” campaign, with billboard trucks traveling around key states, showed the faces of workers whose stories express the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. These trucks put in more than 5,000 miles around the country, joining workers and supporters of the freedom to form unions at rallies, at town hall events and outside the offices of senators. Union members, community allies and small business owners in Colorado toured their state with a billboard truck, as did union members and allies in Arkansas. Another truck toured Pennsylvania, joining union members and Employee Free Choice Act supporters at rallies in cities across the state.
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