Landmark Employee Free Choice Act Passes U.S. House

In an historic victory for working families, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act late Thursday night, making it clear to corporate America that workers — after years of exile by political opponents — can't and won't be ignored in Washington, D.C.

Democratic leaders kept a promise made before and after last fall's election that they would push the party's new majority to pass the landmark workers' rights legislation soon after taking office. The vote was 241-185, with 13 Republicans and all but two Democrats voting in favor.

"Congress today has recognized that collective bargaining is critical in this democracy as it is in every other democracy around the world," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act by the House of Representative is a first step towards restoring the core of the preamble of the Act passed 70 years ago that commits our government to promote collective bargaining in the workplace, not an endless legal battle with management declaring war on their own employees."

CWA members and leaders joined thousands of other union activists for rallies, media events and other action last week to push for passage of the measure as members of Congress made trips to their home districts.

Members with personal stories of struggles against employers to organize and bargain were among the featured speakers at events. They include Comcast technician John Pezzano, vice president of his Pittsburgh unit of CWA Local 13000, and Local 2204 member Teresa Joyce, whose Virginia call center was only able to organize when union-friendly Cingular took over from AT&T.

Noting the high-paid lawyers and "union-avoidance" consultants fueling the corporate side of the debate, Pezzano drew a sharp line between what he called the "anti-union industry" and the workers speaking out on the other side.

"I do not get paid if people go union. I don't earn a living organizing. I don't earn any more money if other people are better paid," he said. "I do this because of what I had to go through, what I saw with my own eyes, the injustice being done."

The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to organize when a majority at a worksite signs cards seeking representation. The law calls for first-contract arbitration if parties can't come to agreement and strengthens penalties for employers who break labor laws.

At news conferences and in testimony on Capitol Hill, workers described a similar pattern of threats, intimidation and even firings to keep unions at bay, followed by stalling tactics – when workers voted to organize anyway – to drag out contract negotiations indefinitely.