Employee Free Choice Act Within Reach - Next Months are Critical to Campaign for Workers' Rights

The Employee Free Choice banner hanging atop CWA headquarters, and others like it on union buildings throughout Washington, D.C., were seen by the millions who attended President Obama's inauguration.

CWA is making a big difference in the fight to win Employee Free Choice. "We're just inches away from making this happen," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

As corporations announced another 77,000 job cuts, devastating tens of thousands of working families, only the Employee Free Choice Act can restore the bargaining rights and worker purchasing power that are essential to economic recovery, he said.

That's why CWA and the union movement are determined to step up mobilization and focus on the next several months to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed.

In a conference call with CWA field staff, held with CWA's Executive Board, Cohen reviewed the campaign and talked strategy.

"We have a strong bipartisan majority in the House. In the Senate, we have majority support for passage of the bill but we need 60 votes to end debate and move to a vote on the bill. The Senate is our battleground and our focus must be on those senators from key states who need to hear from us everyday," he said.

 That means letters, telephone calls and e-mails to Senators' offices, setting up meetings with members of Congress and their staffs, having members and locals write letters to the editors and op-eds to local newspapers to counter the Chamber of Commerce and other opponents, and building more support among our allies — small businesses that have signed on with us, the Sierra Club, the NAACP and others, he said.

The contrast between the empty front groups that oppose Employee Free Choice and the stories of workers who have fought hard for a union voice couldn't be greater, Cohen said. He cited Sara Steffens, who helped organize 230 co-workers at nine Media News newspapers in the Bay area, and then was fired along with 28 other union supporters. "Having workers tell that story is critical. We need these stories in every state," he said. 

Avis and Budget car rental workers who faced an aggressive employer intimidation campaign in order to get their union also are participating, as well as workers from Bresnan Cable, Verizon, and other companies where harassment and intimidation are routine. 

Bill Evitt, District 2; Linda Hinton, District 4, and Kevin Mulligan, District 7, outlined action already  underway in the districts to ensure that every possible member of Congress is on board to sponsor or support the Employee Free Choice Act.

In Virginia, for example, every local in the state is participating in a letter writing and telephone campaign to Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner, to make sure "both go in the right direction," Evitt said. Local members and leaders also have had some good success in getting letters to the editor published in several newspapers; that campaign will continue. 

In District 7, CWA, working with the state AFL-CIO, already has reached out to the state's new senators, Democrats Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, as well as three new House members, on Employee Free Choice, Mulligan said. "This campaign is not just about lobbying and media, but is very focused on member education and mobilization," he said.

Activists have identified the 10 largest worksites in Colorado — where more than 80 percent of members work — and have education plans underway so that everyone knows why Employee Free Choice is important and what to do to help get it passed, Mulligan said. CWA and other unions will be bringing cell phones and lap top computers to worksites and union meetings so members can call, email and write their representatives.

In District 4, CWAers are focusing on key senators, including Ohio Republican George Voinovich and Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl, as well as on some House members who have yet to sign on as cosponsors, Hinton said. Throughout the district, "we're getting folks educated, working with them to call their members of Congress."

In North Carolina, newly elected Senator Kay Hagan has been hearing from members of Locals 3601 and 3505, and a group of local presidents will meet with Hagan during the February recess. Hagan won election because of the hard work of union members and supporters throughout North Carolina.

In every district, CWA and other unions are arranging congressional meetings with members over the President's Day recess in mid-February and are building a program of member education and mobilization.

Hundreds of CWA members and locals already have been contacting their senators and representatives, letting them know just how important the Employee Free Choice Act is to turning the economy around for working families.