 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|||
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Why Workers Need the Freedom to Form Unions and Bargain
Joining together in a union to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions is the best opportunity working people have to get ahead.
Today, good jobs are vanishing and health care coverage and retirement security are slipping out of reach. Only 38 percent of the public says their families are getting ahead financially and less than a quarter believes the next generation will be better off.
But workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than nonunion workers. They are 62 percent more likely to have employer-provided health coverage and four times more likely to have pensions.
All workers should have the freedom to decide for themselves whether to form unions to bargain for a better life.
_______________________________________________________
Bill Lawhorn: Despite Firing, Forming a Union "Was the Right Thing to Do"
The Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) promised Bill Lawhorn that he would be fired if the workers’ campaign for a union failed. The day after the election, Bill was fired. That was 2002. Since then, various levels of the labor board have held the company fired Bill because of his union activity, which is illegal. But it took six years and an order from a federal court for Bill to win reinstatement and back pay...
Click here to read the rest of this story on the AFL-CIO's website...
Click here to get more information on the organizing campaign at CBC...
Click here to see videos of Bill Lawhorn telling his story...
______________________________________________________
Get the Facts on the Employee Free Choice Act
Fact #1: The Employee Free Choice Act does not eliminate the secret ballot.
In fact, the provision of the law that allows workers to choose a Labor Board sponsored election would remain intact and unchanged under this legislation. The Employee Free Choice Act simply adds another provision that allows workers to choose another path to forming a union -- majority sign-up. Majority sign-up is not new -- it’s been used for decades. But under current law, employers can demand an election which they can manipulate instead of allowing workers to choose majority sign-up. What is new is that workers, not their employers, will now be able to decide HOW to form their union.
Fact #2: When it comes to worker intimidation, corporations are the culprits.
Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 560, H.R. 1409) say that unions would intimidate workers into signing cards. That’s a glaring red herring. The record shows that corporate intimidation is the real problem. The business-supported HR Policy Association issued a report in which they reviewed NLRB cases and cited 113 as involving fraud and coercion on the part of the union. An examination of the 113 cases revealed that only 42 of these cases were decisions that actually found misconduct in the signing of union authorization forms. That’s since the National Labor Relations Act’s inception in 1935 -- less than one a year. Compare that to the 29,559 cases in 2007 alone in which companies illegally fired or discriminated against workers for exercising their federally protected legal rights – that’s a ratio of over 30,000 to 1.
Fact#3: Labor Board elections are NOT like our nation’s political elections.
Labor Board elections are company-dominated, and bear almost no resemblance to our nation’s elections for president or governor. Political elections are governed by rules and regulations that ensure free speech rights for both candidates and voters, require full and equal access to voter lists and protect people from coercion or intimidation, Not so company-dominated Board elections. One-quarter of employers fire employees during organizing campaigns. 78% force employees to attend one-on-one meetings with their direct supervisors. 92% force employees into closed-door meetings where they often forbid employees to speak. Meanwhile, union supporters’ access to pass out literature, hang posters or even talk with workers is severely restricted and can even be denied.
Fact #4: The current system is undemocratic.
The National Labor Relations Board simply has stopped working for workers. It leaves workers open to coercion from their bosses, and guarantees that the so-called “election” won’t be free and fair. By giving workers the choice of how to form their unions, there will be a true democratic option for workers to express their choice.
Fact #5: First contract arbitration would be available, but not required.
Currently, the NLRA fails one in 3 newly unionized workplaces because the workers never achieve their goal of a first contract. This provision provides a process for bargaining that includes mediation and arbitration of any disagreements between workers and corporations so they are addressed fairly and according to a set timeline. It is aimed at incentivizing, not replacing, collective bargaining by making sure that the NLRA works for workers.
Fact #6: The Employee Free Choice Act has majority support in the U.S. Congress.
In 2007, the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 560, H.R. 1409) passed the House with a 2/3 majority and a majority in the Senate. President Obama and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis both voted for the legislation and continue to express strong support. And when given the facts, 73 percent of Americans support this legislation to restore workers' freedom to bargain for a better life.
Read On...
Learn more about the union difference in wages and benefits
Some 60 million U.S. workers would join a union if they could
Read stories about workers fighting to form unions