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Protect the Right To Join a Union
The bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) introduced by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) addresses problems in the National Labor Relations Act that make it difficult for workers to form a union. H.R. 800 would begin to level the playing field for workers trying to form a union in the face of employer opposition. H.R. 800 passed in the House on March 1 by a vote of 241-185. Similar legislation will be introduced in the Senate in the near future.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Protect the Right to Join a Union
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
As one of millions of Americans who demand the right to choose a union, I ask you to support working families by co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). I hope the Senate will follow the House of Representatives' lead and push for its passage in 2007, without any amendments designed to undermine its clear intent.
Some 42 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could. But when workers try to get a voice on the job by forming unions, employers often respond with intimidation, harassment and retaliation.
Research shows that in 92 percent of the cases when workers try to form a union in the private sector, they are subjected to anti-union harassment by their employers. In addition, 25 percent of these workers are illegally fired.
EFCA will level the playing field for workers and employers by restoring workers' rights to choose a union and by imposing real penalties on employers that seek to curtail these rights. By establishing more effective remedies to stop employers from violating employees' rights, EFCA would ensure that when a majority of employees in a workplace decide to form a union, they can do so without fear of harassment or intimidation.
Congress must take action to protect the fundamental democratic rights of workers to form and join unions and to have a meaningful voice in the workplace.
Please tell me where you stand on this important legislation.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
March 02, 2007
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Delegates to the 2006 AFT convention passed a resolution declaring the union’s strong support for this legislation. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is supported by a strong bipartisan coalition in Congress. More than 230 have co-sponsored H.R. 800, Employee Free Choice Act of 2007. Passage of EFCA in the House and the Senate is a priority issue for the new congressional majority and the AFL-CIO.
Protecting the right of private sector workers to form a union is important to public sector unions as well. States with low levels of private sector unionization, typically in the South, also limit collective bargaining rights for public employees.
According to independent research, millions of Americans would like to join a union because they want a voice on the job, good health insurance and higher wages. But workers who try to form a union face an unfair uphill struggle as many employers take aggressive steps to intimidate, harass and even fire workers for union-related activity. In fact, when workers try to form a union:
· 92 percent of private sector employers force them to attend closed-door meetings and listen to anti-union propaganda; and
· in 25 percent of private sector union campaigns, employers illegally fire workers for pro-union efforts.
The Employee Free Choice Act would create real penalties for employers who violate workers' rights, providing for impartial mediation and arbitration to settle first contract disputes, and granting automatic recognition of the union when a majority of the workers ask for one.
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