Was there nothing worth fighting for?

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
At an event to unveil the "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act" campaign, actor Bradley Whitford said that, as the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act enters the legislative, the ugly legislative process, we must never forget the workers. This issue boils down to a simple fact. It is a fundamental right in this country for workers to be able to join unions and to bargain collectively,” said Whitford.

Addressing those who believe the act denies workers their right to a secret ballot, Whitford stated that “The Employee Free Choice Act does nothing of the kind.”

Whitford said that “without the protections provided by the Employee Free Choice Act, workers looking to join unions are subject to harassment, disinformation, and dismissal, because of a system that is exploited by, and stacked in favor of management.” He went on to say that we must not allow lawmakers to put their own job protection ahead of the protection of their working constituents.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) stated that “we’re losing the middle class, and when we lose the middle class, we lose America.” The facts are on our side and “if you want to save the middle class, if you want a prosperous America, then you should support the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Boxer.

Congressman Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said that the difference now is that when a majority of employees sign up for a union, the employer gets to veto that choice. “We are saying the choice belongs not to the employer but to the employee.”

Actor Martin Sheen said that the Employee Free Choice Act will give American workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign up. “It’s no secret that all too often workers are poorly treated when they try to gain a voice in the work place.”

Sheen told a story about a man who was asked to show his scars at the gates of heaven. Unable to reveal any, the man was asked, “was there nothing worth fighting for”? “That’s what this is all about,” said Sheen.

It's a "no" for the Employee Free Choice Act

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service


Today in a discussion titled "Consequences of the Employee Free Choice Act: Union and Management Perspectives" experts expressed why the act would not be beneficial to employees but harmful.

James Sherk, a Bradley Fellow in Labor Policy in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation said, "The act replaces secret ballot organizing elections with card checks. It would also take the free collective bargaining out of the hands of the unions and employers."

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) was proposed on February 5, 2007, in the House by Chairman George Miller of the Education and Labor Committee. EFCA passed the House in March 2007 by a vote of 241-185 but then died in the Senate in June 2007. Since then, organized labor has made the EFCA its top legislative target.

Homer L. Deakins, Jr., Managing Shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, said that the bill is basically made up of two goals. "Its major objective is to deny employees a free choice and to substitute what has been a free choice by a secret ballot of election." He went on to say that the second objective and purpose to this bill is to neutralize employers. "The only group that is a beneficiary of this law is organized labor. Everyone else gives up rights. The employer loses the right to basically make their case to the employees and it also says to employers that they will be penalized for misconduct during an organizing campaign in an effort to keep them neutral."

Unions: Can they help the economy?

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Sevice

According to a report titled "Unions Are Good for the American
Economy" released by the Center for American Progress Action Fund,
unions would significantly help every American now during the economic
crisis.

"Workers in Unions earn 30% higher wages taking home about $863 a week
compared to $663 for the typical non-union worker." said Robert B.
Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public
Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and former
Secretary of Labor for President Bill Clinton. Reich also said that the
report shows that union workers are 59% more likely to have employer
provided health insurance as well.

According to the report, unions help workers achieve higher wages said
Karla Walter, the Policy Analyst with the American Worker Project at
American Progress. "We found when we controlled for factors like race,
age, and education level we were able to quantify the union
difference. What we found is that unionized workers wages on average
were 11.3% higher than non-unionized workers with similar
characteristics... That translates to $2.26 up per hour more." she said.

Walter stated that non-union workers would also benefit because their
employers would be likely to raise wages in response to fears that if
they don't raise wages their employees would unionize. "The Employee
Free choice Act is not only important because it makes it harder for
anti union companies to harass workers attempting to unionize and
break the law but it also provides a very important economic benefit.
Boosting unionization rates will improve millions of Americans
economic standing, it will provide the families who have union jobs to
pass to the middle class and it will pump billions of dollars into the
economy ever year." Walter concluded.