Please ask U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, to agree to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.  Rep. Edwards is one of only two Democrats in Texas who have yet to take a clear position in favor of this pro-organizing legislation.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As a constituent and admirer of your record on labor issues to date, I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act.

I have been made aware of the pressure being exerted by some elements of the business community to obtain your opposition to the measure. But I think you understand how fundamental the bill is to the future of organized labor in Texas and the U.S. and how valuable your support could be in obtaining this law.

It has been decades since organized labor has seen a union-related measure this important with a chance to become law. This bill is extremely important.

The Employee Free Choice Act, in my view, is also a remedy for long years in which employers have been granted an unwarranted edge in contested organizing campaigns. That edge derives in large part from the one-sided nature of supposedly "democratic" union elections and the mild penalties when employers decide to break the rules of the elections.

I know you agree that unions are an essential ingredient in our middle class - a middle class that is under siege at present.

Please agree to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act and send the message that a majority of workers in any eligible workplace deserves a fairer shot at achieving collective bargaining.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
March 05, 2009