Employee Free Choice Act

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

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Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The ability to form a union and bargain has been instrumental in helping families reach the middle class. Workers who belong to unions earn more and have better benefits than workers who don't.

The Employee Free Choice Act is about ensuring that workers can join a union. More than half of U.S. workers would join a union if they could.

But to prevent workers from forming a union, 92 percent of employers will force employees to attend anti-union propaganda sessions, and 25 percent will illegally fire at least one employee for pro-union activity.

I learned from an early age how difficult it can be to organize a workplace and also how important unions can be to families. At the factory where she worked, my mother helped lead an effort to organize shop workers and get health benefits and pensions.

Later, I tried my own hand at organizing janitors and home health care workers, and, like my mother, faced staunch opposition from employers. It took the pleas of the religious community to get many workers reinstated.

Current law is simply not strong enough. Management-controlled campaigns, firings, and intimidation are not the hallmarks of the democratic process--but they are the hallmarks of the current system in which employers hold all the power.

I urge a ``yes' vote on the Employee Free Choice Act.

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