Workers to Take Employee Free Choice Message to Capitol Hill

Next week, workers are turning the spotlight on the Employee Free Choice Act and why the bill is critical to rebuilding the economy and restoring America's middle class. Members of CWA and other unions will be in Washington, D.C., urging lawmakers to restore bargaining rights for American workers, the first step to turning around our faltering economy.

"Since 1935, collective bargaining has been the law of the land, and until around 1965 it was working. But since 1975, there has been a systematic effort to crush collective bargaining," said CWA President Larry Cohen. "Some in the business community, like the Chamber of Commerce, simply oppose the idea of working people having any seat at the table. They oppose the idea of workers and management together working our way out of this economic crisis. They want to ignore the fact that in every other industrial democracy, workers have a voice in the workplace and they didn't have to go through a grueling election and fight against their bosses to get it," Cohen said.

On Monday, there will be actions in front of employer trade associations and at other locations.

On Tuesday morning, union members will meet on the steps of the U.S. Senate prior to meetings with their senators and representatives. Workers will present "scrapbooks" of case studies that describe the obstacles and intimidation they faced from employers while trying to get a union voice and bargaining rights. Some of the case studies highlight positive examples where employers have respected workers' rights.

Also on Tuesday, workers from several unions, along with a panel of economists and other experts, will testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a chief sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, is chairman of the committee.

On Wednesday, the union activists will join in workshops and training sessions on how to build even more support for Employee Free Choice, especially in their home districts. Profiles of CWA members are available at http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/pages/worker_profiles.