Workers -- and all Americans -- need unions
to counter corporate greed and government wrongdoing.

SPEAK OUT on DEC. 10

The union movement is mobilizing to demand workers are guaranteed a fundamental human right: The freedom to have a union voice on the job. The law says all Americans have the right to make that decision free from intimidation, harassment and coercion by their employers. But, with the help of the Bush administration, private and public-sector employers are taking away that right.

What's happening... 
In the days leading up to and including Saturday, December 10, which is International Human Rights Day, working families and their allies in Washington state will participate in a national mobilization to support workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain collectively. No, it's not another rally.

Efforts are planned in King and Pierce counties to educate the public about the attack on unions. They will include leafleting, writing letters to the editor, street theater, and even caroling. The goal is to inform -- and have some fun while we're at it. Click here for details of what's happening, when and where.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED in the above-mentioned counties the week leading up to Dec. 10, so please fill out the form at right. These efforts are being coordinated by the American Federation of Government Employees, Washington State Jobs with Justice, and the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Members and supporters of ALL unions are urged to participate in the D-10 efforts.

Union organizers: We need your stories. We are looking for individual stories of workers who were intimidated or harassed by their employers for their efforts to form unions, and are willing to share their experiences so we can try to end this illegal interference with basic human rights. Please contact us with your stories.

Why? 
In 1935, Congress passed and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, giving workers the right to form unions and negotiate contracts with their employers. Under that law, workers have the right to express their views on unions, to talk with their co-workers about a union, to wear union buttons, to attend union meetings and to decide for themselves whether they want union representation, without interference by the employer.

More than 57 million workers in America say they would form a union tomorrow to improve their lives... if they could. But many simply can't, because of obstacles their employers and our government put in their way.

When workers seek to organize a union -- whether at a construction site or in an office, hospital or manufacturing plant -- their bosses almost always obstruct their efforts through threats and harassment. Some employers even fire workers for trying to form unions, which is against the law.

In the private sector... 
A study by Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University found that private-sector employers illegally fire employees for union activity in at least 25% of all organizing efforts. Three in four use workers’ supervisors to pressure workers to vote against the union. Many employers also threaten to close or move the company if workers choose a union.

According to an October 2005 report by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, fully 92% of U.S. employers force workers to attend anti-union meetings by threatening them with discipline or dismissal if they refuse, and 75% hire union-avoidance firms to fight organizing attempts.

It's gotten so bad that Human Rights Watch, one of the world's most respected international human rights organizations, says the United States has become a violator: “Our findings are disturbing, to say the least. Loophole-ridden laws, paralyzing delays, and feeble enforcement have led a culture of impunity in many areas of U.S. labor law and practice. Legal obstacles tilt the playing field so steeply against workers’ freedom of association that the United States is in violation of international human rights standards for workers.”

In the public sector... 
Since Sept. 11, 2001 -- despite the heroism of hundreds of union Fire Fighters and other first responders who perished in the line of duty that day -- the Bush administration has declared unions to be an impediment to national security and unilaterally stripped more than 200,000 federal workers of their collective bargaining rights. Their goal is to do so for ALL federal civil service workers.

The National Security Personnel System (NSPS) is the Bush administration's latest attempt to throw out federal civil service rules at the Department of Defense and deny U.S. government workers basic collective bargaining rights. Twice the administration has tried to unilaterally implement similar changes at the Department of Homeland Security, and twice it has been rejected by a judge as illegal. Despite this, plans proceed to impose the NSPS.

Fighting back... 
Many members of Congress are pushing hard for labor law reform in the form of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing representation, provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes, and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions.

"The right to organize is a fundamental right of workers in this country," said U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-9th). "It was the stepping stone to other such basic rights as overtime pay, benefits, livable wages, safe working conditions, and the 40-hour work week. Since the 1930s however, the system has been grossly diluted and manipulated in favor of the employer. The Employee Free Choice Act provides much needed reforms to (today's) flawed labor law."

Washington state's entire delegation of congressional Democrats have co-sponsored the EFCA. With 204 co-sponsors in the House, only 14 more are needed to force the Republican leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. So on December 10, we'll be asking Republican Reps. Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris, and Doc Hastings to support the EFCA.

But Dec. 10 efforts will also focus on educating the general public about the importance of unions, their legal rights to organize a union, and recruiting their assistance in restoring those rights.

Please volunteer to be a part of this important effort by filling out the form at the top of this page.

Learn more... 

• Get the newly updated “The Employer War—The Union Difference”  originally published in America@Work.

• Check out the Handbook for Students and Faculty Who Support Workers' Rights.

• Get the updated AFL-CIO issues brief, The Silent War: The Assault on Workers’ Freedom to Choose a Union and Bargain Collectively in the United States.

• Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act.

• Find out more about the employer war on workers who seek to form unions.

• View an online comic book about what would happen if congressional elections were like National Labor Relations Board union elections (Flash plug-in needed).

Copyright © 2005  Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO