Union members know the best way for working families to get ahead is by bargaining collectively and gaining a union contract. Union members earn better wages, get better benefits and have better working conditions. We also have a real voice on the job, and the strength of millions of brothers and sisters gives us a powerful voice in the community and the nation.

But the system for forming unions and bargaining for a better life is broken. It has been perverted by employers who use it to intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire workers who want to join together with their colleagues for a better deal. A fair deal.

The Employee Free Choice Act will restore a level playing field for workers. It will strengthen the penalties against companies that block workers’ freedom to choose for ourselves whether to form unions and bargain. It will bring in mediation and arbitration when employees and employers cannot reach a first contract. And it will allow working people to form unions when a majority signs authorization cards—without the conflict, disruption and intimidation employers routinely inflict on us now.