Political Director's Report

Talking Politics

By Anthony G. Speelman, Executive Vice President and Political Director

Employee Free Choice Act Needed to Save America's Middle Class

 
 
The nation's middle class is being squeezed and one critical reason is the difficulty workers experience when they want to exercise their right to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

That's why Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), and said, "Today the procedures for forming a union and bargaining for better wages and benefits are stacked against the workers. The Employee Free Choice Act is very simple. It says that if a majority of workers in a workplace sign authorization cards in support of a union, they get a union. That's it."

On March 1, the House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act, with 241 Representatives voting for this important bill that would make it easier for millions of working people to achieve the American Dream.

The bill must now be passed in the Senate and signed by the President to become law. If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act would make the process of choosing a union more fair by:

  • Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
  • Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
  • Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

Currently, if employees present an employer with union authorization cards signed by a majority, the employer can demand a management-controlled election process through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). But the NLRB election process is broken because it enables employers to intimidate, coerce and harass workers and drag out the process indefinitely.

Every day, corporations harass, intimidate, threaten and even fire people who try to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. They deny employees the freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions. And when corporations do that, they deny working men and women the freedom to pursue a better life. We must change the system.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who said he intends to fight for the bill in the Senate, said: "For too long, Congress has failed to act against the union-busting tactics now all too familiar in the workplace. It's time to listen to the voice of America's working men and women, and give them what they want and deserve-a fair chance at the American Dream. We now have a new Democratic Congress. It's up to us to pass this important bill, and we intend to do it."