More working people than ever—some 57 million—say they would join a union if they had a chance, according to a survey from Peter D. Hart Research Associates. But employers routinely harass, intimidate and coerce workers who try to exercise their right to form a union at work.
On April 19, a bipartisan coalition reintroduced into Congress the historic Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) to reform the nation’s basic labor laws by removing unfair obstacles employers routinely use to thwart workers’ freedom to form unions.
The act, introduced in the House by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.), and in the Senate by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.
During union election campaigns, management routinely coerces employees to convince them not to choose union representation. According to a survey of NLRB election campaigns in 1998 and 1999 by Cornell University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner, private-sector employers illegally fire employees for union activity in at least 25 percent of all efforts to join a union.
Employees not fired fear losing their jobs if they support union representation. According to the Bronfenbrenner survey, management forces employees to attend group anti-union presentations in 92 percent of all union campaigns.
The Employee Free Choice Act helps ensure employees’ free choice to form unions by providing effective remedies—including injunctive relief and monetary penalties—against employer coercion. It was introduced last year and gained 210 co-sponsors in the House and more than 30 in the Senate, but the Republican leadership refused to allow it to go to the floor for a vote.
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