Pass The Employee Free Choice Act

It's hard out here for a union. For the last 50 years, legislation has chipped away at the ability for unions to survive. Just yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a classic union-busting tactic, allowing states to pass laws that "force public sector labor unions to get consent from workers before using their fees for political activities." This is a mirror image of the pernicious Prop. 75, which was defeated in California in 2005. Why nobody has passed a law forcing corporations to get consent from shareholders before using their money for politics is beyond me. I'm sure the union busters behind this legislation would suddenly have a respect for the free speech of corporations that they don't have for unions.

The point is that the unions are in trouble. And a vibrant middle class in this country is permanently associated with a vibrant labor movement. The Senate is taking up the Employee Free Choice Act shortly. The bill has already passed the House by wide margins. It is desperately needed.

I've often described in this space how current labor laws make it extremely difficult for America's workers to form unions without harassment and intimidation from their employers. Many employers want it both ways—workers who produce a lot but who are not paid enough for what they do. The union difference makes a big difference: When comparing wages alone, union workers on average make 30 percent more—that's a median weekly wage of $833 for a union worker compared with $642 for a full-time nonunion worker in 2006. (The full picture of the union difference is here.)

Improving the wages and working conditions of workers—and in the process, salvaging our shrinking middle class—is a big reason why we in the union movement have fought for the Employee Free Choice Act. The act would give workers more options in forming unions and level the playing field that's now tilted largely toward the boss.

Some 60 million workers say they would join a union if they could—but our labor laws, dating back to the 1930s, are skewed in favor of corporate giants who spend big bucks to harass and intimidate workers. And it works—after all, how many people want to lose their jobs? (Although it’s illegal to fire workers for forming unions, management does it anyway, counting on the fact that it often takes years for a worker’s appeal to wind its way through the regional and national labor boards and even the courts.)

If the majority of workers at a company want to form a union, they ought to be allowed to do so. Period. Call your Senators and ask them to support the middle class in this country by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.