EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT  

It’s hard to find anything positive to report as it relates to the current administration’s views and policies toward American workers, especially those in unions. There are people out there everyday fighting for workers rights and there are some positive results, however, they are overshadowed by the more frequent employer abuses.  

One such positive and newsworthy event took place on November 21, when Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. George Miller introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1925 and H.R. 3619). Such a bill should not be necessary because the right to form and join unions was already recognized by the U.S. Government in1935 with the National Labor Relations Act. Then in 1948 the right to a voice at work was included in a Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the United Nations. “Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests,” the declaration says.  

The Employee Free Choice Act will make card-check the standard method by which workers choose to form unions, provide mediation and arbitration for first contract disputes and establish stronger penalties when employers violate the law. Three Republican House members also sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.  

On December 10, in cities across the country, rallies and public hearings took place to educate legislators and the public regarding the struggles workers face when trying to form or join unions. I attended one such hearing and rally in Miami and federal, state and local legislators were represented, as well as many community leaders.  

The majority of the public, including union members, is unaware to what extremes companies will go to suppress and discourage workers from forming and joining unions. For the first time in more than six decades Congressional leaders, state and local officials and other community leaders have joined the union movement to push for legislation to enable workers to join unions without employer harassment and interference.  

The following are just a few examples of the employer abuses provided by Cornell University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner in her report,”Uneasy Terrain”:  

Almost all private-sector employers-(92 percent)-force employees to attend closed door meetings to hear anti-union propaganda when workers seek to form a union.  

Eighty percent of employers require supervisors to attend training sessions on attacking unions.  

Seventy-eight percent mandate supervisors to deliver anti-union messages to workers they oversee.  

Seventy-five percent hire outside consultants to run anti-union campaigns, often based on mass psychology and distorting the law.  

Half threaten to shut down if employees join together in a union.  

Even after employees successfully form a union, in one third of the instances, employers never negotiate a contract.  

The laws have been on the books for decades and it shouldn’t take a new one for workers in this country to exercise their rights. If that’s what it takes, I’m glad there are still Congressional leaders who are willing to stand up with America ’s working families in their fight for justice in the work place.  

Working families are encouraged to call their U.S. senators at 202-224-3121 and U.S. Representatives at 202-225-3121 and urge them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.  

                                                Bill Sweeney

MEMBERS’ CORNER

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