Colorado AFL-CIO -- Employee Free Choice Act

Union Spotlight: United Mine Workers

United Mine Workers' President Cecil Roberts (at right) was in town last week for special events commemorating the Ludlow Massacre in Ludlow, Colorado. The Ludlow Memorial in Ludlow, Colorado was just designated a national landmark. Roberts and mineworkers will be back at Ludlow in June to dedicate the distinction to the public.

President Cecil Roberts reflected on the significance of what took place in Ludlow and American workers' struggles today. Roberts said, "This is like our Vietnam Memorial - labor's - or the Lincoln Memorial. This is a place ... where people were so committed to what they believed in, trying to form a union, that they gave their very lives."

Not only did mine workers in Ludlow lose their lives during the struggle for union recognition and improved work conditions, but 2 women and 11 children died by suffocating in a tent set on fire by the state militia. After the occurance in Ludlow, Roberts said, "An all-out war broke loose throughout the Southern coal fields." It then took the United States government through the efforts Woodrow Wilson sending in troops to quell that.

To Roberts, the Ludlow Massacre is just one example of "when people are willing in solidarity to stand up and fight, they take that step forward for the rest of us." He said about the miners, "They were fighting for an 8 hour day - which we eventually acheived here in Colorado, they were fighting to make the mines safer - which eventually they did become safer because of this struggle, they were fighting for their own dignity - which they acheived because they got the attention of the nation."

Not only this, but "they forced the state government here in Colorado to act; they forced the President of the United States and the Federal Government to act; they forced the United States Congress to act."

"Had not these initial early steps taken place in our country, I don't know that we would have been able to finally acheive the right to organize through the Wagner Act. For the most part, all of the coal fields in the U.S. became organized when workers had a legal right for the first time in this country to join a union. Of course that was short-lived, in '47, twelve years later, the passage fo the Taft-Hartley Act gave back many of the gains of the Wagner Act."

Which brings us to today. Roberts said, "Now we find ourself in this struggle similar to what the miners back at Ludlow faced only people aren't shooting at us." However, big business' reaction to workers having a right to freedom of choice to form a union, "to bargain collectively together, their reaction to this is very similar to the owners of Colorado Mines back in the Ludlow days."

Roberts is optimistic that the current struggle for the Employee Free Choice Act will ultimately be successful because he sees broad support for it nationwide from very different populations. He said, "It always is true, when we all stand together in solidarity and unity, there's nothing we can't acheive."

Hear from President Roberts here:

Ludlow Massacre Remembered video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUyXBBgkLJs

Friends and Allies: Ahmed White and Colorado Academics

Professor Ahmed White of CU-Boulder (pictured at right at recent Jobs with Justice event in D.C., pictured far right standing) attends events and functions around the Employee Free Choice Act to explains its implications and value. 

Professor White joins several professors around the state in signing on in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

He said at a recent panel discussion at CU-Boulder, sponsored by Colorado Jobs with Justice, that "the amount of ignorance around this act is shocking." Professor White said, "In some ways I actually think the act is too modest in what it tries to do."

Prof. White explained that "The problem that is sought to be addressed here is indeed a very serious one. The National Labor Relations Act, the Wagner Act," passed 74 years ago this July, established the right and still includes Section VII which validates three basic labor rights, "the rights that every credible system of labor law has to have - the right to self-organization; the right of collective bargaining and the right of protest."

After the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act twelve years later and poor enforcement of the law, White said that, "those rights, in particular the most fundamental one, the one of self-organization, have become extremely difficult to use in a meaningful way. The primary reason for that is that employers routinely punish people who try to exercise those rights."

White said, "The statistics very a little bit, but they are shocking. Even at the most conservative studies, in terms of how many people are discharged unlawfully in flagrant violation to the Act (section 81 and section 83), and how many people are otherwise discriminated against: reassigned, harrassed, threatened with discharge. Some estimate one in four organizing campaigns feature an actual discharge and probably more of them feature unlawful harrassment of people trying to organize. One in thirty people who attempt to organize are fired."

On the solutions for workers whose rights have been violated, White said, "While those remedies aren't completely meaningless, it is clear that they are inadequate in doing what they are supposed to do."

Ahmed White's expertise in the area of labor law and support of the Employee Free Choice Act is a valuable addition to wide-ranging support in Colorado and nationwide.

More academic support found here: http://dc.david.jacobs.googlepages.com/businessscholars.html 

http://www.peri.umass.edu/sefca/

http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/other_publication_types/efca_files/Scholars_EFCA.pdf 

Ludlow Massacre Remembered and Relevant Today

United Mine Workers' President Cecil Roberts was in town last week for special events commemorating the Ludlow Massacre in Ludlow, Colorado.

Watch President Roberts here:

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Delegations of Jobs with Justice leaders from Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were in Washington, D.C. to deliver the message to Senators that community leaders, faith leaders, academics and workers support Employee Free Choice Act.

The morning of April 22nd, Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and This Land is Their Land, moderated a press event and roundtable discussion on low-wage workers and the effects of the economic crisis on Capitol Hill.

Full article here!

More on Jobs with Justice here!

Ahmed White, a Law Professor at CU-Boulder who focuses on labor law and labor history (at right, pictured far right standing) joined the delegation in D.C. and offered his expertise on the issue. Incidentally, Professor White went to law school at Yale with new Senator Michael Bennet where they worked on the Yale Law Journal together.

This Saturday, the Colorado AFL-CIO held a town hall-style meeting with new Colorado Senator Michael Bennet hosted at the IBEW Local 68 Hall in Denver.

Over 400 union members and community allies turned out to show support for working families' issues. The high priority of the day was the Employee Free Choice Act.

Senator Bennet repeated Saturday that he, "deeply believe[s] in the rights of workers to organize free from intimidation," 

Union and community allies were passionate in their advocacy for strong labor law reform and health care reform.

Among those who took the mic to participate in the discussion were: small business owners who support the Employee Free Choice Act (including Estevan Trujillo and Laura Foster); Colorado workers who were fired for trying to form a union at their workplace (including steel worker Errol Hohrein of Greeley - pictured bottom right with Bennet - who has testified in front of Congress at least 3 times and Dan Luevano of Keenesburg who has received national media attention for his story).

Bennet frequently redirected to the need for broad-based, national health care reform as well as the need to get our economy back on track so that this generation is not the first to leave its children with less than it was left.

Union and community members frequently made the connection between reasonable labor law reform as laid out in the Employee Free Choice Act and the opportunity for the middle class to jump-start the economy.

Mine worker Bob Butero at site of Ludlow Massacre in Ludlow, CO:

Please join activists, faith leaders, and a representative from Interfaith Worker Justice of Colorado for a brief evening discussion on The Employee Free Choice Act, a piece of Federal legislation that will help re-build the middle class and make the American Dream a reality for hard- working people.
 
Special guests include Colorado workers who will give testimony on how they have experienced discrimination in the workplace and what the Employee Free Choice Act would do to help them and their families.

 

What:  Community Presentation on the Employee Free Choice Act for People of Faith
When:  Thursday, April 30th, 5:30-6:30pm.
Where:  First Presbyterian Church, 220 West 10th St.  Pueblo, CO 81003.

First Presbyterian Church is conveniently located in downtown Pueblo on 10th street between Court and Main.

Download PuebloEFCAmtg.flyer

 

By DAVID SANTISTEVAN JR.
The Chronicle-News (April 9, 2009)

"Wednesday morning members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) rolled into town with the “Faces of Choice” van. The two story high billboard on top of the van endorses the Free Choice Act in Colorado. This bill is co-sponsored by Rep. John Salazar, Dist. 3 of Colorado and is growing support throughout the state. This bill is crucial in the words of the UMWA to restoring workers rights and could help in restoring the nation’s economy. Supporters of the bill in Colorado are encouraging voters to call Colorado senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, who have yet to take a position on the bill. The van is rolling throughout the state of Colorado, just as local members of congress come home for the April recess. The van will continue on to Grand Junction, Pueblo, Boulder after pausing in front of Trinidad’s City Hall before traveling on to Ludlow.

Under this new bill, the employee can choose to vote to join a union and the employer will have to recognize the vote.

“The ads that corporations are running are not telling the truth, they are accusing the unions of taking away the democratic process when in fact corporations control the employees now,” UMWA Rep. Bob Butero told The Chronicle- NewsWednesday morning. Opponents say the bill will not eliminate the secret ballot.

Opponents are calling this the worker check card, and believe that it is taking away the rights of the employee and employer.

No labor law has been passed in the United States since the 1940’s and the law that was passed was actually an antilabor law. That bill, the Taft Hartley Act, restricted wages and gave corporations back control. The last law passed to help the workers was the Wagner Act back in the 1930’s. The Wagner Act said an individual could organize and join a union; this was one of the first steps in changing labor laws that helped build the middle class.

The Free Choice Act effects Coloradoans, and workers in Las Animas County who are working in interstate commerce. Butero added, “This bill does not effect any of your mom and pop or small businesses. This is aimed to help
out the employees of the Wal-Mart’s of the world, to gain collective bargaining rights. Businesses like mine (Stay Fit Family Center) or Romero’s won’t be effected at all.”

The Free Choice Act will not effect public employees; advocates say wages are stagnate and that companies have too much power in the bargaining process.

Right now 45 million Americans are uninsured while, 70 million are underinsured. If this bill passes it would give employees an opportunity at better health benefits.

Eighty-five workers in the Trinidad/Las Animas County area have either called or written letters in favor of the Free Choice Act. One of the reasons the van made a stop in Ludlow Wednesday morning is because this is where one of the first labor struggles in Colorado and the nation took place. The Ludlow Massacre is one of the most significant episodes of the labor movement in U.S. history.

The “Faces of Choice” van had three stops on Wednesday in Pueblo at the local steel mill, power plant and in front of Salazar’s office.

Today the van will be at Denver International Airport (DIA). If you would like more information on the Free Choice Act in Colorado please contact the UMWA at 1-866-632-4160."

Federal Employees including postal workers, letter carriers, air traffic controllers and federal government employees (AFGE, APWU, NALC, NATCA & NPMHU) walked this Sunday to get the word out about the Employee Free Choice Act in both Denver and Colorado Springs.

They talked to working families - union members and Working America members - about the importance of rebuilding the middle class by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

National APWU Secretary-Treasurer Stapleton visited Colorado for this special walk. He said, "These issues affect all of us, whether federal employees or private sector."

About the Employee Free Choice Act, he said, "Nobody said this was going to be easy and it is clearly a challenge. We can do it, though, working families need this."

Stapleton emphasized the unique role working Coloradans have in passing this legislation. With both Colorado Senators on the fence on this issue, Stapleton said, "We must keep the ones that we have in line and encourage other Senators like Bennet and Udall to do what's right for America." He added, "The only way to rebuild the middle class is to rebuild our labor movement. The only way to rebuild America's labor movement is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act."

Cindy Kirby, NALC letter carrier activist, said Sunday to fellow union and community members, "We are encouraging the people we talk to to write a quick note to Senators Bennet and Udall or to make a quick phone call. If they want to do both, that's even better. We really have to keep up the momentum and keep educating on this important issue every day."

After hitting the doors in Denver, Sec. Treas. Stapleton said, "It is really rewarding when you meet people like that," referring to a teacher and an operating engineer he just talked with who were very excited to both engage on the issue of Employee Free Choice and getting involved.

Video:

LaborerT. Paul Muller and son Antony Muller-Gomez spent a recent snowy weekend educating and advocating on Employee Free Choice Act.

When a recent labor walk was cancelled due to snow, Muller and son took their supplies and headed to the Denver Art Museum to educate the public on what T. Paul Muller calls a "critical piece of legislation."

T. Paul Muller said, "We're going to the Denver Art Museum to get signatures for Employee Free Choice Act because now is the time that we can make a difference, now is the time to rebuild our country."

Young Antony Muller said, "I'm very excited."

His father added, "It's a good opportunity to get him away from cartoons for a while. And the poor weather is actually a plus - on bad weather days, people out are more receptive to our message."

T. Paul Muller said, "It's a tough campaign due to all the misinformation, but we are going to make this happen - we need this."

Community Supports the Employee Free Choice Act Roundtable - Colorado Represents on the Hill Once Again

Delegations of Jobs with Justice leaders from Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were in Washington, D.C. to deliver the message to Senators that community leaders, faith leaders, academics and workers support Employee Free Choice Act.

The morning of April 22nd, Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and This Land is Their Land, moderated a press event and roundtable discussion on low-wage workers and the effects of the economic crisis on Capitol Hill.

Full article here!

More on Jobs with Justice here!

Ahmed White, a Law Professor at CU-Boulder who focuses on labor law and labor history (at right, pictured far right standing) joined the delegation in D.C. and offered his expertise on the issue. Incidentally, Professor White went to law school at Yale with new Senator Michael Bennet where they worked on the Yale Law Journal together.

Saturday Meeting with Senator Bennet

This Saturday, the Colorado AFL-CIO held a town hall-style meeting with new Colorado Senator Michael Bennet hosted at the IBEW Local 68 Hall in Denver.

Over 400 union members and community allies turned out to show support for working families' issues. The high priority of the day was the Employee Free Choice Act.

Senator Bennet repeated Saturday that he, "deeply believe[s] in the rights of workers to organize free from intimidation," 

Union and community allies were passionate in their advocacy for strong labor law reform and health care reform.

Among those who took the mic to participate in the discussion were: small business owners who support the Employee Free Choice Act (including Estevan Trujillo and Laura Foster); Colorado workers who were fired for trying to form a union at their workplace (including steel worker Errol Hohrein of Greeley - pictured bottom right with Bennet - who has testified in front of Congress at least 3 times and Dan Luevano of Keenesburg who has received national media attention for his story).

Bennet frequently redirected to the need for broad-based, national health care reform as well as the need to get our economy back on track so that this generation is not the first to leave its children with less than it was left.

Union and community members frequently made the connection between reasonable labor law reform as laid out in the Employee Free Choice Act and the opportunity for the middle class to jump-start the economy.

"The struggles are still here, the struggle for working people are the same"

Mine worker Bob Butero at site of Ludlow Massacre in Ludlow, CO:

Community Meeting Regarding Employee Free Choice Act with People of Faith

Please join activists, faith leaders, and a representative from Interfaith Worker Justice of Colorado for a brief evening discussion on The Employee Free Choice Act, a piece of Federal legislation that will help re-build the middle class and make the American Dream a reality for hard- working people.
 
Special guests include Colorado workers who will give testimony on how they have experienced discrimination in the workplace and what the Employee Free Choice Act would do to help them and their families.

 

What:  Community Presentation on the Employee Free Choice Act for People of Faith
When:  Thursday, April 30th, 5:30-6:30pm.
Where:  First Presbyterian Church, 220 West 10th St.  Pueblo, CO 81003.

First Presbyterian Church is conveniently located in downtown Pueblo on 10th street between Court and Main.

Download PuebloEFCAmtg.flyer

 

ON TOUR - From the Trinidad Chronicle-News

By DAVID SANTISTEVAN JR.
The Chronicle-News (April 9, 2009)

"Wednesday morning members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) rolled into town with the “Faces of Choice” van. The two story high billboard on top of the van endorses the Free Choice Act in Colorado. This bill is co-sponsored by Rep. John Salazar, Dist. 3 of Colorado and is growing support throughout the state. This bill is crucial in the words of the UMWA to restoring workers rights and could help in restoring the nation’s economy. Supporters of the bill in Colorado are encouraging voters to call Colorado senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, who have yet to take a position on the bill. The van is rolling throughout the state of Colorado, just as local members of congress come home for the April recess. The van will continue on to Grand Junction, Pueblo, Boulder after pausing in front of Trinidad’s City Hall before traveling on to Ludlow.

Under this new bill, the employee can choose to vote to join a union and the employer will have to recognize the vote.

“The ads that corporations are running are not telling the truth, they are accusing the unions of taking away the democratic process when in fact corporations control the employees now,” UMWA Rep. Bob Butero told The Chronicle- NewsWednesday morning. Opponents say the bill will not eliminate the secret ballot.

Opponents are calling this the worker check card, and believe that it is taking away the rights of the employee and employer.

No labor law has been passed in the United States since the 1940’s and the law that was passed was actually an antilabor law. That bill, the Taft Hartley Act, restricted wages and gave corporations back control. The last law passed to help the workers was the Wagner Act back in the 1930’s. The Wagner Act said an individual could organize and join a union; this was one of the first steps in changing labor laws that helped build the middle class.

The Free Choice Act effects Coloradoans, and workers in Las Animas County who are working in interstate commerce. Butero added, “This bill does not effect any of your mom and pop or small businesses. This is aimed to help
out the employees of the Wal-Mart’s of the world, to gain collective bargaining rights. Businesses like mine (Stay Fit Family Center) or Romero’s won’t be effected at all.”

The Free Choice Act will not effect public employees; advocates say wages are stagnate and that companies have too much power in the bargaining process.

Right now 45 million Americans are uninsured while, 70 million are underinsured. If this bill passes it would give employees an opportunity at better health benefits.

Eighty-five workers in the Trinidad/Las Animas County area have either called or written letters in favor of the Free Choice Act. One of the reasons the van made a stop in Ludlow Wednesday morning is because this is where one of the first labor struggles in Colorado and the nation took place. The Ludlow Massacre is one of the most significant episodes of the labor movement in U.S. history.

The “Faces of Choice” van had three stops on Wednesday in Pueblo at the local steel mill, power plant and in front of Salazar’s office.

Today the van will be at Denver International Airport (DIA). If you would like more information on the Free Choice Act in Colorado please contact the UMWA at 1-866-632-4160."

Federal Caucus Walk this Sunday

Federal Employees including postal workers, letter carriers, air traffic controllers and federal government employees (AFGE, APWU, NALC, NATCA & NPMHU) walked this Sunday to get the word out about the Employee Free Choice Act in both Denver and Colorado Springs.

They talked to working families - union members and Working America members - about the importance of rebuilding the middle class by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

National APWU Secretary-Treasurer Stapleton visited Colorado for this special walk. He said, "These issues affect all of us, whether federal employees or private sector."

About the Employee Free Choice Act, he said, "Nobody said this was going to be easy and it is clearly a challenge. We can do it, though, working families need this."

Stapleton emphasized the unique role working Coloradans have in passing this legislation. With both Colorado Senators on the fence on this issue, Stapleton said, "We must keep the ones that we have in line and encourage other Senators like Bennet and Udall to do what's right for America." He added, "The only way to rebuild the middle class is to rebuild our labor movement. The only way to rebuild America's labor movement is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act."

Cindy Kirby, NALC letter carrier activist, said Sunday to fellow union and community members, "We are encouraging the people we talk to to write a quick note to Senators Bennet and Udall or to make a quick phone call. If they want to do both, that's even better. We really have to keep up the momentum and keep educating on this important issue every day."

After hitting the doors in Denver, Sec. Treas. Stapleton said, "It is really rewarding when you meet people like that," referring to a teacher and an operating engineer he just talked with who were very excited to both engage on the issue of Employee Free Choice and getting involved.

Video:

Weekend Warriors

LaborerT. Paul Muller and son Antony Muller-Gomez spent a recent snowy weekend educating and advocating on Employee Free Choice Act.

When a recent labor walk was cancelled due to snow, Muller and son took their supplies and headed to the Denver Art Museum to educate the public on what T. Paul Muller calls a "critical piece of legislation."

T. Paul Muller said, "We're going to the Denver Art Museum to get signatures for Employee Free Choice Act because now is the time that we can make a difference, now is the time to rebuild our country."

Young Antony Muller said, "I'm very excited."

His father added, "It's a good opportunity to get him away from cartoons for a while. And the poor weather is actually a plus - on bad weather days, people out are more receptive to our message."

T. Paul Muller said, "It's a tough campaign due to all the misinformation, but we are going to make this happen - we need this."