With growing public support for economic policies that will bring real change to America, Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), today introduced the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation giving workers a fair and direct path to form unions.
“The battle is joined,” reports UE Political Action Director Chris Townsend, who attended the event on Capitol Hill. Townsend also reports that the hallways were “choked with employer representatives and lobbyists from the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.” The big business lobby is desperate to stop the first legislation in 74 years that would actually make it easier for workers to form unions.
The introduction of EFCA means we will see a stepped-up propaganda campaign by corporate forces, not only in Washington but on television, newspaper ads, and on the internet. Townsend described this employer political counter-offensive as a “contemptible mish-mash of lies, half-truths, exaggeration and slander” meant to sow confusion and fear of unions – much like the anti-union employer workplace campaigns against unions that big business is fighting to maintain.
Townsend expressed his hope that the introduction of EFCA, and the employer attack, will motivate UE members to act. Locals will soon be receiving postcards, addressed to their state’s U.S. senators, which members will be asked to sign, and direct meetings with senators are being organized in many states for UE Action Week, March 29 through April 4. We also encourage UE local officers and members to make phone calls to your representatives and senators. You should also call the Capitol Hill offices of your member of Congress and Senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.