The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has been introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate -- an important step toward restoring balance and fairness to our economy.
Under EFCA, workers - not management - would be given the freedom to choose how they join a union, either through majority sign-up or secret ballot. It would also enact tougher penalties for employers who violate the law.
Our friends in Congress have introduced EFCA, but our corporate enemies have countered us by committing $200 million dollars in a propaganda campaign to defeat it.
Congress will debate and vote on this important bill soon. Your senators and representative need to hear from people back home immediately--they're already hearing from corporate interests.
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Talking Points
The Problem: Employers Silence Workers Who Attempt to Form Unions.
Under the current labor law system, employers often use a combination of legal and illegal methods to silence employees who attempt to form unions and bargain for better wages and working conditions. When faced with organizing drives, 25 percent of employers fire at least one pro-union worker; 51 percent threaten to close a worksite if the union prevails; and, 91 percent force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors.
The Impact: Economic Opportunity Stolen from America's Working Families.
Protecting the right to form unions is about maintaining the American middle class. It's no coincidence that as union membership numbers fall there are growing numbers of jobs with low pay, poor benefits, and little to no security. More than half of U.S. workers - 60 million - say they would join a union right now if they could. Why? They know that coming together to bargain with employers over wages, benefits, and working conditions is the best path to getting ahead. Without labor law reform, economic opportunity for America's working families will continue to erode.
The Solution: Labor Law Reform that Gives Workers a Free Choice and a Fair Chance.
EFCA would level the playing field by strengthening penalties against offending employers; requiring mediation and arbitration to help employers and employees reach a first contract in a reasonable period of time; and, permitting workers to form a union through "majority sign-up," a process in which workers present signed authorization cards as demonstration of their choice to belong to a union.
The Results: Employer/Employee Partnerships Are Working at Top U.S. Companies.
The provisions of EFCA mirror successful strategies already in use by industry-leading employers such as Cingular Wireless and Kaiser Permanente. These companies have replaced adversarial relationships pitting employers against workers' unions with cooperative labor relations models that include voluntary recognition of unions through majority sign-up and fair contracts. Cingular, the nation's top wireless carrier and Wall Street darling continues to boost profits and advance a positive labor relations model enabling its union employees to grow.
