LDN - Top Stories

Thursday, June 21, 2007
sponsored by Graue Inc. & Illini Bank

Gov. Blagojevich, Democratic governors call on U.S. Senate to pass pro-union legislation Send a link to a friend

Federal 'Employee Free Choice Act' to prevent businesses from hindering union organization

[June 21, 2007] CHICAGO -- Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich joined several other Democratic governors Thursday in calling on U.S. Senate leaders to pass the "Employee Free Choice Act," which would allow workers to organize unions without harassment, intimidation or termination by employers. Since the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, unions have been supported and recognized as a vital part of our society. But in the last few years, the right to form a union has been eroded, creating the need for Congress to enact this new legislation that provides for recognition of a union when the majority of employees voluntarily sign authorizations, offers mediation and binding arbitration to resolve first contracts, and strengthens penalties for violations during organizing and first contract efforts.

"Across America, unions have provided the opportunity for every worker to live the American dream," Blagojevich said. "Union families have fair wages, health insurance and safe working conditions. We need to support the right for workers to organize, and we need to remember that unions represent the hardworking people of our country."

In a letter signed by several members of the Democratic Governors Association, governors shed light on a deteriorating situation for workers trying to organize. According to the AFL-CIO, employees are fired in one-quarter of private-sector union organizing campaigns. In addition 78 percent of private employers require supervisors to deliver anti-union messages to the workers whose jobs and pay they control. And even after workers successfully form a union, one-third of the time they are not able to get a contract.

In supporting this legislation, Blagojevich and other Democratic governors are working against anti-union special interests who are trying to lobby congressmen to ignore the 69 percent of Americans who support the Employee Free Choice Act, according to the AFL-CIO. Under the legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy and U.S. Rep. George Miller, workers will regain their rights to organize without worry of retaliation by their employers.

Since the beginning of his administration, Blagojevich has made protecting workers' rights one of his top priorities. Through executive or legislative action, the governor has raised the minimum wage twice during his administration. The most recent increase will bring the minimum wage up to $7.50 per hour in July 2007 and to $8.25 an hour by 2010, benefiting more than 450,000 Illinois workers. In addition, the governor has helped working families by bringing access to health care for all children in the state and signing legislation to help ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.

Text of the letter sent to Senate leaders:

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:

As governors, we ask for your support of the "Employee Free Choice Act," introduced by U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy and U.S. Representative George Miller. This legislation provides for recognition of a union when the majority of employees voluntarily sign authorizations, offers mediation and binding arbitration to resolve first contracts, and strengthens penalties for violations during organizing and first contract efforts.

The freedom to form and join unions is a fundamental human right protected by our constitutional freedom of association, our nation's labor laws, and international human rights laws, including the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a right for which millions of Americans have struggled. The freedom to form unions is of special importance to the civil and women's rights movements because unions help ensure adequate wages, health care coverage and retirement security. It was the right to form a union that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was supporting during the Memphis sanitation strike when he was assassinated in 1968. Unions also help to reduce the wage gap for women and people of color, and can prevent arbitrary and discriminatory employer behavior.

[to top of second column]

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 has long allowed employers to recognize a union when the majority of workers sign authorization cards, designating the union as their bargaining agent. The right to form a union, however, has been eroded over the last several years, resulting in increasing employer harassment, discrimination, and sometimes termination for workers taking initial steps toward forming a union. Twenty-five percent of private-sector employers illegally fire at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns. Even where workers successfully form unions, employers often refuse to bargain fairly with the workers. Moreover, 92% of employers illegally force employees to attend mandatory, closed-door meetings against the union. The Employee Free Choice Act will protect workers from these abuses, provide for first contract mediation and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties when employers violate workers rights.

When workers try to form unions, all too often they are harassed, intimidated, and even fired for their support of the union. These attacks on workers' rights, for which there are only weak -- if any -- remedies, occur all too frequently among the most vulnerable workers of our society, including women, the working poor of all races, and recent immigrants. As a result, those workers who need unions the most are often those who have the least chance of achieving the benefits of unionization.

We strongly urge you to support the Employee Free Choice, legislation that would begin to reinstate the right to form unions that Congress protected for Americas workers over 65 years ago.

Sincerely,

Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
Colorado

Governor Chet Culver
Iowa

Governor John Baldacci
Maine

Governor Jennifer Granholm
Michigan

Governor Bill Richardson
New Mexico

Governor Ted Strickland
Ohio

Governor Edward G. Rendell
Pennsylvania

Governor Joe Manchin III
West Virginia

Governor Rod Blagojevich
Illinois

Governor Kathleen Sebelius
Kansas

Governor Martin O'Malley
Maryland