Union Members and Families

Employee Free Choice Act Introduced in House

Posted by on February 7, 2007 at 04:12 PM

Union members and supporters have something to smile about this week - the Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the House. The bill, aimed at shoring up the ability of workers to organize, is long overdue. The Bush Administration and Republicans in Congresses of yesteryear were often complicit in plots to reduce workers' rights, but no more. With Democrats in control, working families can breathe a little easier. The AFL-CIO blog has more from one of the hundreds of cosponsor, Rep. Miller:

Today the procedures for forming a union and bargaining for better wages and benefits are stacked against the workers. The Employee Free Choice Act is very simple. It says that if a majority of workers in a workplace sign authorization cards in support of a union, they get a union. That's it.
Declining workers' rights is a subject many people don't talk about enough -- but it is a huge problem. In the year 2007, workers are still harassed, bullied, and even threatened when they try to form unions or exercise their right to collectively bargain. This isn't an issue of helping out some small group of people -- workers' rights affect everyone. What happens to our teachers, our nurses, our factory workers, our friends and family and acquaintances -- this affects us all. Preventing workers from creating or joining unions can mean denying them basic rights like baseline job safety, or overtime pay.

You can read more about the Employee Free Choice Act here.

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