Tuesday afternoon, after a grueling recount process, former Sen. Norm Coleman finally conceded defeat and congratulated Al Franken on his Senate victory in Minnesota. Franken is a longtime union member and supporter of workers' rights.Sen. Franken is expected to take a seat on the powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where he will play a key role in health care reform.
Additionally, his full support for the Employee Free Choice Act brings us that much closer to securing 60 Senate votes for workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
— Marc Laitin,
AFL-CIO Online Mobilization Coordinator
Showing posts with label Employee Free Choice Act. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Employee Free Choice Act. Show all posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Employee Free Choice Ally: Laura Dresser of The Center on Wisconsin Strategy
The Center On Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) is a national policy center and field laboratory for high-road economic development — a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government.
COWS is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Associate Director Laura Dresser participated in an on campus teach-in in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. In the video above, Dresser explains that increased union density is necessary in order to close the increasing wage gap in the United States. By allowing more working people to negotiate for fair wages and benefits, the Employee Free Choice Act will help create an economy that works for all Americans again. Joel Rogers, the Director of COWS, has also been a vocal supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act. Rogers participated in an economic roundtable with Madison area workers and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin back in February:http://employeefreechoice.typepad.com/wi/2009/02/new-report-calls-for-employee-free-choice-workers-in-madison-agree.htmlFriday, May 15, 2009
Milwaukee Elected Officials and Community Members Rally in Support of the Employee Free Choice Act
Legislation Needed to Re-build the Middle Class
On Tuesday, May 19th, supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act will rally outside of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Participants will protest a closed-door speech by Karl Rove, former advisor to President Bush, scheduled to be delivered to members of Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce.
“The Employee Free Choice Act is not just good for the labor movement, it also makes sense for our communities,” says State Rep. Barbara Toles. “Unions provide a buffer in difficult economic times. They help preserve economic benefits and maintain job security. Moreover, unions do so in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of business.”
“This is about basic fairness and human dignity,” says Rev. Dr. Rolen Womack Jr. “The Employee Free Choice Act would give working people 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.”
Monday, May 11, 2009
Leaders in Investment Community Speak Out for Employee Free Choice
A coalition of investors, representing nearly $400 billion in assets, has stepped forward to say the Employee Free Choice Act is the right move right now to protect workers and strengthen the economy.
In a letter to Congress, 26 leaders from the investment community strongly endorse the Employee Free Choice Act, saying that it’s critical not just for the cause of human rights, but for business, too. The support of these business leaders is a valuable corrective to the anti-union spin and disinformation promoted by corporate lobby groups.
Adam Kanzer, managing director and general counsel at Domini Social Investments LLC, says workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain is critical to a strong economy.
The Employee Free Choice Act is an investment in our shared economic future. The act will help to stabilize our economy, both in the United States and abroad, by establishing a more balanced relationship between labor and management. Today, American workers are producing more and receiving less. This is an unsustainable trend that creates material risks for employees, investors and the global economy. By more effectively protecting workers’ fundamental human rights, the Act would help to reverse these damaging trends.
The letter from investors details the flaws in our current system for forming unions, starting from the simple proposition that it should be workers, not their bosses, who make the decision about whether, and how, to form a union. The investors say that workplaces where workers are free to join unions are safer, fairer to workers, have lower turnover rates and deliver a better return on investment. In addition, when workers can bargain for a fair share of the value they create, they can get the economic security they need to have stronger purchasing power—an absolute must to turn around the economy.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says that the letter points out how many in the business community want to work with, not against, their employees for a stronger, more sustainable economy:
These investors know from experience that businesses that honor strong labor standards are much more likely to benefit from higher productivity, less turnover and a better-trained workforce. They have recognized, along with many in the business community, that working people need to have the tools to increase their purchasing power and bargain for financial stability in order to get this economy growing again.
You can read the full letter here. The voices of these investors are yet another addition to the broad coalition that demands labor law reform and a free and fair chance for workers to bargain for a better life.
In a letter to Congress, 26 leaders from the investment community strongly endorse the Employee Free Choice Act, saying that it’s critical not just for the cause of human rights, but for business, too. The support of these business leaders is a valuable corrective to the anti-union spin and disinformation promoted by corporate lobby groups.
Adam Kanzer, managing director and general counsel at Domini Social Investments LLC, says workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain is critical to a strong economy.
The Employee Free Choice Act is an investment in our shared economic future. The act will help to stabilize our economy, both in the United States and abroad, by establishing a more balanced relationship between labor and management. Today, American workers are producing more and receiving less. This is an unsustainable trend that creates material risks for employees, investors and the global economy. By more effectively protecting workers’ fundamental human rights, the Act would help to reverse these damaging trends.
The letter from investors details the flaws in our current system for forming unions, starting from the simple proposition that it should be workers, not their bosses, who make the decision about whether, and how, to form a union. The investors say that workplaces where workers are free to join unions are safer, fairer to workers, have lower turnover rates and deliver a better return on investment. In addition, when workers can bargain for a fair share of the value they create, they can get the economic security they need to have stronger purchasing power—an absolute must to turn around the economy.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says that the letter points out how many in the business community want to work with, not against, their employees for a stronger, more sustainable economy:
These investors know from experience that businesses that honor strong labor standards are much more likely to benefit from higher productivity, less turnover and a better-trained workforce. They have recognized, along with many in the business community, that working people need to have the tools to increase their purchasing power and bargain for financial stability in order to get this economy growing again.
You can read the full letter here. The voices of these investors are yet another addition to the broad coalition that demands labor law reform and a free and fair chance for workers to bargain for a better life.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Letters from Postal Workers
The American Postal Workers Union of Wisconsin (APWU-WI) dedicated part of their annual Spring Seminar to the Employee Free Choice Act. [Full Story]
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
From the Field: Employee Free Choice Actions Everywhere
With members of Congress at home for the April congressional recess, the grassroots campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act is in high gear, with more than 300 events taking place around the country in support of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain. Here are some highlights of this nationwide effort.
Last Tuesday, hundreds of workers rallied for Employee Free Choice in Harrisburg, Pa. Among the speakers were Ed Sadusky and Ken Matz, two workers at a steel plant in Cressona, Pa., who were subjected to intimidation, harassment and management roadblocks in their attempt to form a union. Their efforts to bargain for a better life were thwarted by corporate pressure and delays, and it took them two and a half years to get a fair first contract. Their story illustrates why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.
In Florida, union members and members of Jobs with Justice delivered more than 8,500 letters to the office of Sen. Bill Nelson to thank him for co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s just one of the many activities in support of the legislation happening all across Florida during the recess.
As part of the “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act” campaign, union members and community allies are touring Colorado accompanied by moving billboard trucks bearing the faces of Dan Luevano and other workers whose stories show the need for the Employee Free Choice Act.
In Indiana, supporters of the bill held a faith empowerment breakfast featuring Kim Bobo of Interfaith Worker Justice and members of various religious groups.
In northwest Indiana, union members held a working lunch where they wrote letters and made phone calls to their senators asking them to support the Employee Free Choice Act. A similar working lunch was held in Texarkana, Ark., and another was held in Omaha. Thousands of phone calls and letters are going out to senators around the country.
In Orono, Maine, author Barbara Ehrenreich was the featured speaker at a symposium about the Employee Free Choice Act. She said that by reducing inequality and giving workers bargaining power, the bill will serve as an economic stimulus.
The campaign to pass the federal legislation is active in Louisiana, too. Louisiana AFL-CIO President Louis Reine recently published an op-ed in the Bogalusa Daily News in support of the bill, which he says is critical to strengthening the economy by protecting workers’ ability to bargain for a better life. Says Reine:
Companies routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire people who try to form a union and have collective bargaining.
Current law is ineffective in stopping these corporate practices, and penalties are so slight for breaking the law that many corporations simply consider it the cost of doing business. The government found that companies violated the rights of 26,824 workers in 2006 alone. Especially under these current economic conditions, it is time to stand up for working Americans. It is time to rebuild the American middle class.
Last Tuesday, hundreds of workers rallied for Employee Free Choice in Harrisburg, Pa. Among the speakers were Ed Sadusky and Ken Matz, two workers at a steel plant in Cressona, Pa., who were subjected to intimidation, harassment and management roadblocks in their attempt to form a union. Their efforts to bargain for a better life were thwarted by corporate pressure and delays, and it took them two and a half years to get a fair first contract. Their story illustrates why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.
In Florida, union members and members of Jobs with Justice delivered more than 8,500 letters to the office of Sen. Bill Nelson to thank him for co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s just one of the many activities in support of the legislation happening all across Florida during the recess.
As part of the “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act” campaign, union members and community allies are touring Colorado accompanied by moving billboard trucks bearing the faces of Dan Luevano and other workers whose stories show the need for the Employee Free Choice Act.
In Indiana, supporters of the bill held a faith empowerment breakfast featuring Kim Bobo of Interfaith Worker Justice and members of various religious groups.
In northwest Indiana, union members held a working lunch where they wrote letters and made phone calls to their senators asking them to support the Employee Free Choice Act. A similar working lunch was held in Texarkana, Ark., and another was held in Omaha. Thousands of phone calls and letters are going out to senators around the country.
In Orono, Maine, author Barbara Ehrenreich was the featured speaker at a symposium about the Employee Free Choice Act. She said that by reducing inequality and giving workers bargaining power, the bill will serve as an economic stimulus.
The campaign to pass the federal legislation is active in Louisiana, too. Louisiana AFL-CIO President Louis Reine recently published an op-ed in the Bogalusa Daily News in support of the bill, which he says is critical to strengthening the economy by protecting workers’ ability to bargain for a better life. Says Reine:
Companies routinely intimidate, harass, coerce and even fire people who try to form a union and have collective bargaining.
Current law is ineffective in stopping these corporate practices, and penalties are so slight for breaking the law that many corporations simply consider it the cost of doing business. The government found that companies violated the rights of 26,824 workers in 2006 alone. Especially under these current economic conditions, it is time to stand up for working Americans. It is time to rebuild the American middle class.
Monday, April 13, 2009
APWU of WISCONSIN... Puts Money Where Mouth Is
By: John E. Durben
At the last APWU of Wisconsin Board of Directors Meeting a motion was made, second and carried unanimously to send a check for $2,000.00 to support the Freedom of Choice Act. This is a very important piece of legislature that gives the right of what type of voting for Union representation to the employees and not the employers as it is now.
APWU and the AFL-CIO have been fighting from the onset to get this legislation before the legislature to become law. It's been far too long that the employers have been dictating the type of vote that dictates the forming of a Union. The employees are going through the process... they should be the ones that dictate how... they want to proceed.
The Union Busting organizations have spent over 200 million dollars to defeat this legislation, obviously labor can not match the deep pockets of corporate America, but we have you... the voters... and our legislators need to hear your voices.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Business Owners, Elected Leaders Support Employee Free Choice
by Seth Michaels, Mar 31, 2009
Over the past week, union members have made more than 4,000 calls and sent more than 8,000 letters to members of Congress urging them to support the Employee Free Choice Act to protect workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.
Meanwhile, more and more small business owners, community members and lawmakers are indicating their support for the proposed legislation, which would level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions. [Full Story]
Source: AFL-CIO Now Blog
Over the past week, union members have made more than 4,000 calls and sent more than 8,000 letters to members of Congress urging them to support the Employee Free Choice Act to protect workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain.
Meanwhile, more and more small business owners, community members and lawmakers are indicating their support for the proposed legislation, which would level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions. [Full Story]
Source: AFL-CIO Now Blog
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