Employee Free Choice at the 1-Yard Line; Time to Make the Final Push

CWAers have been leading the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, and now we're down to the wire, ready for the final push that gets us there.

Working with the entire labor movement — Change to Win unions, AFL-CIO unions and American Rights at Work — we've built strong public support for Employee Free Choice and made the connection between strong bargaining rights and a strong middle class.

These are just some of the tactics CWA successfully used in the campaign:

• the million-member-mobilization, which demonstrated the support of 1.5 million working people and 115,000 CWAers for Employee Free Choice. 
  
  
• the 100,000 plus personal letters delivered to members of Congress and especially those produced by District 13 members to Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). 
  
  
• the tens of thousands of phone calls made by union members. 
  
  
• letter writing campaigns, especially by District 2 members, and editorial board meetings that helped bring workers' voices to newspaper editorial pages. 
  
  
• hundreds of town hall meetings held during Congressional recesses.

The end game for all this hard work is action in the Senate that's likely to take place in the next two months, June and July.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) continues to lead the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate, along with Representative George Miller in the House. Both are committed to passing this critical bill, and President Obama continues to reiterate his strong support for Employee Free Choice.

CWA members have several opportunities yet to affect the debate and win passage of Employee Free Choice. The 2,500 CWAers who will be in Washington, D.C., for the historic convention/legislative-political conference will be a big force on Capitol Hill during CWA's biggest lobby day ever.

Congress will recess on June 26 for the July 4th holiday, and that means another critical opportunity for CWAers to meet with elected officials and staff in home districts.

"There's absolutely no question that our senators and representatives need to hear from us now on what the Employee Free Choice Act means for working families," said CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill. "Let's get this done."