Working Together: Employee Free Choice — Within Reach!

If any CWA member still wonders why our union and the entire union movement are so determined to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, the chilling conversation of some corporate executives should clear up that question.

Bank of America Corp. hosted a teleconference for big corporate executives just three days after getting a $25 billion handout from U.S. taxpayers — from us, millions of working families.

The subject of the call wasn't how to help the economy out of crisis. Instead, it was to persuade corporations to send "large contributions" to groups fighting Employee Free Choice.

That alone is unbelievable — that Bank of America and AIG, another big company that got more than $40 billion from us should be using those funds to deny workers' fundamental rights.

It gets worse. Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, launched into a rant calling Employee Free Choice "the demise of a civilization."

"This bill may be one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life," he said, explaining that he could have been on "a 350-foot boat out in the Mediterranean," but felt it was more important to engage in this fight.

"As a shareholder, if I knew the CEO of the company wasn't doing anything on [EFCA]... I would sue the son of a bitch... I'm so angry at some of these CEOs. I can't even believe the stupidity that is involved here," he carried on.

There's a lot more, and you can read the story and hear some of the audio at the Huffington Post, which reported the story in late January.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/bank-of-america-hosted-an_n_161248.html

We're talking about legislation that would rebuild the middle class and help restore an economy that everyone admits is in free fall. Employee Free Choice is all about restoring workers' bargaining power and expanding the middle class, so that workers can bargain for good wages that will in turn increase purchasing power and create more jobs. That's what happens when workers have bargaining power. It's true in democracies throughout the world, where workers are able to stand together and bargain for better conditions.

Maybe, just maybe, the corporate lobbyists and the Chamber of Commerce and other employer front groups are running scared because they know what we do — that we have a real path to making the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land.

There is strong bipartisan majority support for Employee Free Choice in the House of Representatives, starting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative George Miller who heads the House Education and Labor Committee. We have the strong support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, along with majority support in the Senate, and we are near the 60 votes necessary to end debate and move to a final vote.

And for the first time in a long time, working people have the active support and encouragement of the President of the United States who has pledged to make this bill a reality.

When they're not ranting about the end of civilization, some of the corporate front groups are spreading lies about Employee Free Choice, especially when it comes to secret ballot elections.

The truth is pretty simple. Currently, bosses get to decide whether to recognize majority signup or force workers into an election which can take months or even years, marked by employer harassment, intimidation and other illegal actions. Employee Free Choice gives workers that same choice — majority signup or election. 

In this issue, there are several case studies of courageous workers who stood up to their employers, facing intimidation and even being fired all because they wanted and worked for a union voice. Reading these stories, no one could misunderstand the real motives of most corporate executives and their pals. They don't care about protecting the secret ballot — that will still exist under the Employee Free Choice Act.

No, most corporations want to stop workers from building bargaining power and improving their wages, benefits and working conditions.

All of us, working together throughout the labor movement, won't let that happen. More than 120,000 CWAers have joined the Million Member Mobilization of U.S. labor and our allies. This issue highlights mobilization and activities that our locals are engaged in nationwide, to make sure members of Congress stand with us. If you haven't yet, please join the campaign to make Employee Free Choice a reality for millions of American workers.