Working people need the freedom to choose for themselves whether to join together in unions to bargain for better wages and benefits. But the current system for forming unions and bargaining is broken. Corporations routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire workers for trying. As a result, good jobs are vanishing and health care coverage and retirement security are slipping out of reach.
That’s a big part of why we elected a new Congress in November. Now it’s time to make sure the 110th Congress works for working families.
I am signing this petition to urge you to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
Working people are struggling to make ends meet these days, and our middle class is disappearing. The best opportunity for working people to get ahead economically is to unite and bargain with employers for better wages and benefits.
But the current system for forming unions and bargaining is broken. Corporations routinely block workers' freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions to bargain by intimidating, harassing, coercing and even firing workers.
The Employee Free Choice Act would restore workers' freedom to make their own choice about whether to have a union and bargain for a better life--without interference from management. The legislation, which enjoyed bipartisan support in the 109th Congress, would:
* Strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate workers,
* Establish mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannot agree on a first contract
* And enable workers to form unions when a majority signs union authorization cards.
Today, CEOs get contracts that protect their pay and benefits--but they fight tooth and nail to keep workers from having the same opportunity. As a result, good jobs are vanishing and health care coverage and retirement security are slipping out of reach. Only 38 percent of the public says their families are getting ahead financially, and less than a quarter believes the next generation will be better off.
I urge you to support the Employee Free Choice Act to give working families an opportunity for a better life, level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America's working class.
Signed by:
[Your name]
[Your address]
