Wisconsin AFL-CIO -- Employee Free Choice Act

Speaking Up for Employee Free Choice

“We know that corporate anti-worker groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Brad Schwanda of UAW Region 4.  “We need to be ready to talk to fellow workers, our congressional delegation and the media about this legislation.”

On Tuesday union affiliates and community allies from around the state gathered in Milwaukee to get the facts about the Employee Free Choice Act.  The 65 attendees at this all day training session left prepared to combat misinformation about the bill.

“It is up to us to spread the truth,” said Mike Goebel of CWA Local 4611.  “The Employee Free Choice Act does NOT eliminate secret ballot elections.  It simply allows workers to choose between the two existing methods of forming a union.”

Unions and community allies participating the training included AFM, AFSCME, AFT, America Votes, BAC, CWA, IAMIA, IBEW, GCC/IBT, Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition, IUOE, LIUNA, NALC, School for Workers at UW Madison, SEIU, UAW, UFCW, Alliance for Retired Americans, and Working America.

For more pictures from the training sessions, click here to visit our flickr account.

(Photo: Joe Oswald of LIUNA and Steven Willams of AFSCME write letters to Senator Kohl thanking him for supporting the Employee Free Choice Act during training on Tuesday.)

Wake Up!

How do we wake up from the nightmare that is our current econmic crisis?  The Employee Free Choice Act is how!  And corporate America isn't just going to hand it over. 

Call Senator Feingold and Senator Kohl today to thank them for rebuilding the middle class by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

Senator Herb Kohl: 1-866-207-2060

Senator Russ Feingold: 414-276-7283 or 920-465-7508

 

New Report Calls for Employee Free Choice; Workers in Madison Agree

Workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain will be critical to rebuilding a strong economy, says a new report released yesterday that examines the effect of unions on wages and Wisconsin’s economy.

Unions Are Good for the Wisconsin Economy, written by researchers Karla Walter and David Madland for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, says that increasing union rates would put more money in workers’ pockets, reversing the sharp growth in income inequality that has undermined our economy.  In fact, if union membership was as high as it was in 1983, Walter and Madland suggest, Wisconsin workers would earn an estimated $503 million more in wages and salaries.

Walter and Madland contend that we must make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain for a fair share of the value they create:

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act and making it harder for management to threaten workers seeking to unionize would be good for American workers. It would help boost workers’ wages and benefits. And putting more money in workers’ pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy. Increasing unionization is a good way to get out of our current economic troubles.

Workers and community members held a roundtable discussion of the report at the Capitol Building in Madison yesterday.  The event was moderated by Jim Cavanaugh, President of the South Central Federation of Labor.  Participants included Representative Tammy Baldwin, Director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy Joel Rogers, and Director of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin Rabbi Renee Bauer.

Some of the most memorable moments from the roundtable were provided by Ryan Wolfe and Dan Kortte, both of whom are assembly workers at Sub-Zero Freezer Company.  As current members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 565, both men were able to compare their current unionized jobs with prior nonunion work experiences.

“I have worked in nonunion workplaces before,” said Kortte.  “Now that I am a union member I can testify that my benefits have improved and my wages are much better.  Union contracts are the way to build a strong middle class.”

“Every employee should have the right to do what I have done,” said Wolff, Bargaining Committee Member and Trustee of SMWIA Local 565.  “Through my union I have been able to negotiate with my employer for things that have made my family better off.  The Employee Free Choice Act will extend that opportunity to more Wisconsin workers.” 

Click here to watch the entire workers' roundtable as recorded by Wisconsin Eye Television. 

Know the Facts- The Employee Free Choice Act Does Not Take Away the Secret Ballot

We have all the seen the ads the other side is running, saying that they Employee Free Choice Act will take away the Secret Ballot. This is simply not true.

The Employee Free Choice Act is an amendment to the existing NLRA. It does not change or amend the election process in any way.

•    It does not amend, repeal or eliminate the NLRA election process, which is set forth in Section 9(c)(1)(A).  This provision will continue unchanged.

•    If the Employee Free Choice Act is enacted, a petition filed under Section 9(c)(1)(A), which meets the rules of that section, will still initiate an election process.

•    According to the House Committee on Education and Labor Report on H.R. 800, “[t]his section does not eliminate the NLRB election process, which remains an option for employees as it is under current law.”  2/16/07, pp. 25-26.

The Employee Free Choice Act will help ensure a fairer election process for union elections. With the current union election process, many workers feel the election process because it is company-controlled, coercive and unfair.

The Employee Free Choice Act will put the choice of how to form a union in the hands of workers rather than their employer by changing the majority sign-up process to require companies to honor their employees’ choice when employees decide to demonstrate their union support in this manner.  Instead of their company controlling how workers form unions, workers will have the choice of which path to use.

An election process has never been the only way workers can form their union under the NLRA.

•    Section 9(a) of the current NLRA requires that an employer bargain with "representatives designated or selected for purposes of collective bargaining."  It has never required that the representative be elected.

The NLRA has always maintained and regulated two paths to union representation. Both an election and majority sign up have been endorsed by the NLRB, the Supreme Court and Congress.

•    (a) Election:  Section 9(c)(1)(A) requires that a petition be filed which is supported by a significant number of workers in order for the NLRB to conduct an election; the employer cannot veto the election process; and

•    (b) Majority sign-up:  widely used and also governed and regulated by the NLRB, it requires that:  (1) a majority of employees sign authorization cards or petitions indicating their choice for union representation; and, (2) their employer agree to recognize the union based on the majority support.

The Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers – not companies – to choose how they form their union by removing the veto power companies now have with the majority sign-up process.

The Milwaukee Area Labor Council Loves the Employee Free Choice Act

The Milwaukee Area Labor Council represents about 58,000 workers in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, and Washington counties.  According to Secretary – Treasurer Sheila Cochran, “The Employee Free Choice Act is a fundamental part of economic recovery.”  

“Unfortunately, most large corporations do not want workers to have the freedom to choose for themselves whether to bargain through unions for better wages, benefits and working conditions,” says Cochran.  “It is up to us to remind our elected officials to do what is in the best interest of working families.”

MALC members are making sure that the Employee Free Choice Act remains a legislative priority by sending letters of thanks to Senator Russ Feingold, Senator Herb Kohl, and Congresswoman Gwen Moore, all of whom have supported the bill in the past.  Nearly 100 letters were collected at their February 4th meeting.

The MALC also held a special Employee Free Choice Act event on Saturday, February 7th.  Watch the video above to see parents and children making valentines for their congressional delegation.

“The kids who made valentines learned a lesson about fairness.”  Cochran explains, “Their parents have had a better life because of their union.  And the Employee Free Choice Act will allow more people to share in middle class prosperity.”

Tune In for Employee Free Choice

Set your radio alarm clock!  Wisconsin AFL-CIO President David Newby will be on tomorrow’s Sly in the Morning radio program to discuss the Employee Free Choice Act, the economic stimulus package, health care and other issues affecting working families. 

In Madison, Sly in the Morning airs on AM1670 WTDY.  You can also listen online at www.wtdy.com.  President Newby will go on at 9:05 AM tomorrow and the segment is expected to last 15 to 20 minutes. 

This is the second radio appearance of the week for President Newby.  On WPR’s Joy Cardin radio show yesterday morning, he explained that forming a union “should be the employee’s choice and not the company’s.”

President Newby was interviewed and took calls on Wisconsin Public Radio as part of an hour-long discussion of the Employee Free Choice Act.  Newby described the bleak situation for working people who try to form a union.  “In about 25% of union organizing drives in the private sector, at least one of the active workers supporting that organizing drive is illegally fired.” 

Newby went on to make a strong case for the reforms proposed in the Employee Free Choice Act.  “Unions have been the means by which we have developed a solid middle class. . . We don’t have that anymore because our labor laws are so weak and we don’t have a level playing field.”

Click here to visit the Joy Cardin archives and listen to the full program.  Be sure to scroll down and select the program from February 4 at 6 AM.

(Photo: Wisconsin AFL-CIO President David Newby.)
 

Employee Free Choice Act Videos Educate and Entertain

Not sure what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about?  This video explains how the legislation will help create a level playfield and an economy that works for everyone:

 

Of course, there are those who have an interest in maintaining the status quo.  Check out this humorous take on the corporate perspective:

 

Act Now for Employee Free Choice!

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."
- from the inaugural address of President Obama

I had the privilege of witnessing the historic inauguration of our 44th President in our nation’s capital.  It was awesome.  I am extremely proud of the role that union volunteers here in Wisconsin played in making that day possible.  Every leaflet handed out, every door knocked, every piece of mail sent and every phone call placed made a difference.

It feels like real change has finally come to Washington.  In many ways, it has.  But now that we have a new administration and a more worker-friendly congress, we must remember that the substantial changes to rebuild the middle class will not happen just because we elected more worker-friendly legislators.  Major change will happen only if we, along with our progressive allies, make it happen by mobilizing and creating a movement that gives our elected officials no choice but to fulfill their commitments to us.

It is up to those of us in the labor movement to remind our elected officials that the Employee Free Choice Act is a major part of the change that we voted for in November—indeed the key to restoring a middle class—and to insist on their full support.  When working people have the freedom to bargain over benefits and wages, families thrive and our whole economy prospers. 

In 2007, the Employee Choice Act passed in the House and while it got a majority vote in the Senate, it was blocked by a Republican filibuster.  The new 111th Congress is made up of expanded pro-worker majorities in both chambers. We need to make sure 60 U.S. Senators support the legislation and can prevent opponents from killing the bill with a filibuster.  Needless to say, the fight over every vote is going to be fierce.

We need you to contact your representatives in Washington—House and Senate—and tell them how vital the Employee Free Choice Act is to building an economy that works for everyone.  It is especially important to thank Senator Feingold and Senator Kohl for their past and future support. 

To thank Senator Kohl call 866-207-2060.  To contact Sentator Feingold call 414-276-7282 (Milwaukee) or 920-465-7508 (Green Bay).

Over the next several months, we will celebrate the work of local unions as they educate and mobilize members.  We will honor the release staff dedicated to passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.  We will talk to business owners and management, religious and community leaders, politicians and other allies who stand in support of this critical legislation.  Finally, we will feature testimonials from workers who have gone through organizing campaigns and whose stories demonstrate why we desperately need this bill.

It is up to us to win public support and hold all elected officials accountable.  True economic security is only possible when every worker has the right to freely form and join a union.

The future of the labor movement is in the balance.

In Solidarity,

David Newby, President
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO