The Employee Free Choice Act

The Employee Free Choice Act A growing, bipartisan coalition of policymakers supports the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed legislation that would ensure that workers have a free choice and a fair chance to form a union. Simply put, the Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers to once again choose to form unions without the fear of being fired.

The legislation would give workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time, and toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers' rights.

Why is this bill so important? It's plain as day: workers are struggling in this country. Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by.

The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits =96 and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Corporate interests are fighting the Employee Free Choice Act with everything they've got. They're protecting the status quo =96 a rigged system which allows employers to intimidate, harass, and even fire workers who try to form a union. We're not talking about isolated incidents: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives.

Protecting the right to form unions is about maintaining the American middle class. It=92s no coincidence that as union membership numbers fall there are growing numbers of jobs with low pay, poor benefits, and little to no security. More than half of U.S. workers=9760 million=97 say they would join a union right now if they could.

Why? They know that coming together to bargain with employers over wages, benefits, and working conditions is the best path to getting ahead. Workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non- union workers, and are 63 percent more likely to have employer- provided health care. Without labor law reform, economic opportunity for America=92s working families will continue to erode.

Millwright Ron

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_________________ Gods Chosen Few Union Millwright And Damn Proud Of It.
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Reply to
Millwright Ron
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The Unions need to get their act together and start exporting the union movement to Asia. Start organizing in the countries that are the US's competition to produce a level playing field. Until wages reach parity in these countries, industry will continue to move to those countries to take advantage of those lower wage costs. Do it now. Dave

Reply to
dav1936531

Does it also include provisions for workers to kick-out a union? I didn't think so...so much for "Free Choice".

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Workers already have the choice of kicking out the Union, I have participated in one decertification myself. The employees where I worked kicked out the Teamsters after 10 years of zero benefits and paying monthly dues for nothing. The only one that voted to keep them was the Union Steward.

Steve

Reply to
nospam

The free choice act is incorrectly named. It is an attempt to eliminate the secret ballet vote so the unions can lean on the workers.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

So it should be called the "Union Thug Assistance Act"?

The UFW wants to move in on a feedlot in Eastern Oregon. They're threatening to strike, and calling out unfair labor practices on the owner because -- wait for it -- the owner is insisting on a secret ballot.

The union wanted to have a 'vote' where signing up for a union card was a 'yes' vote, and not signing up was a 'no' -- which meant that all the 'no' votes could be easily tallied. Then the union could go out and 'help folks decide'. What impressed me was their gall in saying that having a good, American-style secret ballot was somehow 'unfair'.

I've said it before, I'll say it again -- the best union for me is the one up in Seattle at Boeing. All the high-tech employers in Portland look north and think "geeze, we gotta be nice to our folks or that'll happen to us!". And all the engineers get to have reasonably good working conditions without working in a system where they have to be union sheep.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Marvelous. Now if government workers had a free choice not to pay union dues without the fear of being fired, we'd have something.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

IIRC, a union is certified by a simple majority but decert takes two thirds or better. Not fair!

Reply to
Tom Gardner

"Tom Gardner" wrote in news:dj7fk.18035$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com:

Yah - it oughta be the other way 'round.

Reply to
Eregon

I was going to mention that point but you beat me to it. One rule to go by is the title of a bill in congress is usually opposite its intent.

Wes

Reply to
Wes

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