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FEBRUARY 2007
Restore
the Freedom to Choose Unions
by Rick S. Bender, President of
the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO
In
Current law says Americans
have the right to choose unionization free from intimidation, harassment
and coercion by their employers. But
in reality, enforcement is so weak and the penalties so small that
employers routinely ignore the law.
Who’s to stop them?
There are no police assigned to stop this type of illegal activity.
Some, but not all, unions can afford to pursue a legal
complaint-and-appeals process that takes years on behalf of illegally
fired workers who technically aren’t even their members.
If they succeed, maybe the employer will have to pay some back
wages.
Too many employers are willing
to pay that price to prevent their workers from getting a union contract.
“Aggressive
actions by employers -- often including illegal firings -- have
significantly undermined the ability of
It’s
time for us to stand up and say, enough is enough!
We are Americans, and we will not have our freedoms and our right
to collective bargaining taken away by union-busting corporate attorneys,
nor by a government that turns a blind eye to their illegal activities.
The new Congress aims to level
the playing field and restore the freedom to choose unionization through
the Employee Free Choice Act.
The
EFCA would establish stronger penalties for violation of employee
rights when workers seek to form a union and it would provide mediation
and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
But most importantly, it would allow workers to form unions by
signing cards authorizing union representation.
This would help avoid worksite elections where employees are
routinely pressured, harassed and manipulated by their employers.
Corporate lobbyists who oppose
the EFCA say they want to preserve “secret ballot elections.”
Of course they do. These
“elections,” which are scheduled by the government after a majority of
workers have already indicated they want a union, give employers several
months to harass and intimidate captive employees into voting “no.”
Imagine an election where a
political candidate could force you to attend meetings bashing his or her
opponent and could also threaten your family’s livelihood, and you begin
to get the idea. These
elections are a joke, and the deck is severely stacked against workers.
More than half of all
Americans say they would like to organize a union at their workplace,
according to a new survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.
Why wouldn’t they? Union
members make more money, are more likely to get health and retirement
benefits, and have better job security.
And yet, the
overall
The EFCA, which was introduced
earlier this month, is co-sponsored by 234
“The
Employee Free Choice Act is one of the most important pieces of
legislation we will address in the 110th Congress,” says Rep. Smith
(D-Tacoma). “Our worker protections have slowly deteriorated as
the National Labor Relations Board fails time and again to preserve
workers’ right to organize. We are long overdue in strengthening our
federal labor laws and the Employee Free Choice Act is a monumental step
in the right direction.”
It’s
time to take that step. It’s
time for our bosses to butt out of union elections, so working people have
a real opportunity to make up their own minds.
Rick Bender is President of the
Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO,
the largest labor organization in the state.
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Copyright © 2007 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO