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Act to protect the freedom to choose a union.
New bipartisan legislation (H.R. 3619 and S. 1925) introduced in Congress will help fix the broken process through which workers form unions. Please take a moment right now to send a message to your senators and representative. Urge them to sign on as a sponsor of this important pro-worker legislation.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Act to protect the freedom to choose a union.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am asking you to get involved in the fight to protect the human right of every worker to freely form or join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employer. Please sign on as a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act recently introduced in Congress (H.R. 3619 and S. 1925) by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
As a co-sponsor of this legislation, you can help elevate the visibility of this real human rights issue. Employers routinely harass, coerce, intimidate--and even fire--workers to keep them from exercising their freedom to form a union. According to Cornell University research conducted by Kate Bronfenbrenner, one-quarter of private sector employers illegally fire at least one worker during a union organizing campaign.
This is unacceptable. I strongly urge you to join the campaign to end this human rights crisis. The current system for protecting these workers' rights is broken. This law, when enacted, would fix the broken processes through which workers form unions--making union protections and benefits more widely available to more working families.
This is one of the issues I will use to weigh your commitment to working families. I look forward to hearing that you have signed on as a co-sponsor of this important legislation.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
December 02, 2003
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Everything important that working families have won during the last 100 years was won by or with the help of the unions that America's workers formed through struggle. The list is long but includes: Overtime pay and protections including the 40-hour workweek and the weekend; Medicare and Social Security, workplace safety laws, child labor laws, the minimum wage, civil rights and much more.
Most importantly, unions are a way that working people win a voice on their job that brings them better pay and benefits, dignity and respect in the workplace and, put simply, a better work life and more opportunities for their families.
But now, the laws that protect workers who choose to form a union are failing. So, it isn't a surprise that everything else we've won--including overtime pay and Medicare--are under attack as well.
On paper, America's workers have the right to form unions, but the laws protecting that right are so broken that employers routinely block workers from exercising their own free will to form and join unions.
New legislation that was just introduced with bipartisan support seeks to restore workers' freedom to form unions by ensuring that when a majority of workers decide to form a union, they can—making union protections and benefits more widely available to more working families. And the union movement will launch a campaign to win this legislation on Dec. 10—International Human Rights Day.
Some 45 million U.S. workers would form a union today if they had the chance, according to an independent, nationally respected polling firm. But employers routinely harass, coerce, intimidate--and even fire--workers to keep them from exercising their freedom to form a union. According to Cornell University research, one-quarter of employers illegally fire at least one worker during private-sector union organizing campaigns.
This is wrong. The legal system for protecting workers' rights is broken. You can help change this by sending a fax to your representative. Ask your representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of this new legislation.
After you take action, please ask your friends, family and co-workers to get involved.
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