Education And Labor Committee Approves Employee Free Choice Act

Legislation Would Strengthen America's Middle Class by Helping Workers Bargain for Better Pay, Benefits

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- As part of Democrats' goal of strengthening America?s middle class, the House Education and Labor Committee today approved legislation that would enable workers to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions by restoring their rights to form unions.

The Employee Free Choice Act of 2007, a bipartisan bill introduced in the House on February 5 by Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), and Peter King (R-NY), would reform a broken union election process in which employers frequently intimidate, harass, reassign, or even fire workers who support the formation of a union. Today's vote is the first step towards enacting this much-needed legislation into law.

"Despite the growing economy and skyrocketing corporate profits, American workers and their families have actually lost income over the last several years. Yet at the same time, families are facing much higher costs for many of life's basics, like healthcare, education, transportation, energy, food, and housing," said Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. "There are different factors contributing to this middle class squeeze, but there is no question that one critical factor contributing to the squeeze is the difficulty that workers experience when they want to earn the right to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions."

Under the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of workers in a workplace sign cards authorizing a union, then the workers would get a union. This majority sign-up process is permitted under current law, but only if the employer allows it. Many employers instead force employees to undergo an election process administered by the National Labor Relations Board. In NLRB elections, the deck is stacked heavily against pro-union workers.

For example, while the employer can discuss the union with its employees anytime --on company property, and even in one-on-one meetings -- union advocates are severely restricted in their ability to communicate with workers. Moreover, these elections are wide open to abuse by employers. The Center for Economic and Policy Research recently estimated that employers fire one in five workers who actively advocate for a union. A December 2005 study by American Rights at Work found that 49 percent of employers studied had threatened to close or relocate all or part of the business if workers elected to form a union. In fact, in 2005 alone, over 30,000 workers received back pay from employers that illegally fired or otherwise discriminated against them for their union activities. 

"The reality is that workers in unions earn 30 percent more in wages than non-union workers and 80 percent of union workers have health insurance while only 49 percent of non-union workers do. Unfortunately, coercive employers determined to obstruct any effort to allow workers to organize have eroded these basic underpinnings of middle class life: decent wages and benefits," said Andrews, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions. "While most employers are not bad actors, I do believe the current structure of the representation process perpetuates the ability of a few employers to coerce employees without consequence. Restoring workers' free choice, through the Employee Free Choice Act, is the only way to ensure that they have the right to bargain for fair wages and benefits."

In addition to allowing workers to form a union through majority sign-up, the Employee Free Choice Act would:

• Stiffen penalties against employers that illegally fire or discriminate against workers for their union activity during an organizing or first contract drive, including requiring employers to pay treble back pay to workers whom they are found to have illegally fired; and
• Allow employers and newly formed unions to refer bargaining to mediation and, if necessary, binding arbitration if they are not able to agree on a first contract after 90 days of bargaining.

Miller said that critics of the bill are trying to deny workers' rights to choose for themselves whether or not to form a union. "Why is it that critics of this bill don't trust American workers to make their own choices?" asked Miller.

A recent Hart Research poll for the AFL-CIO found that 69 percent of Americans support the Employee Free Choice Act.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Click here for myths vs. facts on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Click here for a summary of the Employee Free Choice Act. 

Click here for the text of the Employee Free Choice Act.  

Click here for a December 2005 American Rights at Work report on problems with current NLRB election process.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853