Today Is the 70th Anniversary of the Wagner Act Two Major Victories at Thomas Built Bus and Goodyear Representatives Attend Important New Jersey Forum on Freedom to Form Unions Workers Take Florida by Storm Report Makes Case for Majority Sign-Up Today Is the 70th Anniversary of the Wagner Act Today is the 70th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act (also called the Wagner Act, for its chief sponsor Sen. Robert Wagner of New York). This legislation was a breakthrough in allowing workers to form unions freely and bargain collectively. Key provisions of the act made it illegal for employers to: Interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in their efforts to form, join or assist labor organizations; Discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he or she has supported a union or filed charges or given testimony under the Act; and Refuse to bargain collectively. But today, each of these provisions is violated routinely. Here are the facts: 92 percent of private-sector employers force employees to attend mandatory closed-door meetings against the union. 51 percent of private-sector companies threaten to close their facilities if workers win their union. 25 percent of private-sector employers illegally fire workers during organizing campaigns. 45 percent of private-sector employers do not agree to a first contract within two years. The law originally intended to protect workers' rights has been become the opposite. Anti-worker amendments (especially the notorious Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947), pro-business Supreme Court decisions and pro-employer National Labor Relations Boards (NLRBs) have stripped away the Wagner Act's protections. While 57 million workers say they would vote to form a union tomorrow if given the chance, only 80,000 actually did so through the NLRB election process last year. In other words, the government’s process for handling union representation is meeting only slightly more than one-tenth of 1 percent of the demand. Because our labor laws are so broken, most workers who form unions today do so outside the National Labor Relations Act process. They ask their employers to agree to majority sign-up (also known as card-check) and recognize the union once a majority of workers indicates the desire for a union by signing cards or a petition. Legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act would restore the promise of the Wagner Act by allowing all workers to benefit from this fair process for deciding on union recognition. It would avoid the grueling obstacles presented by sophisticated employer anti-union campaigns. And it would require mediation to stop employers from denying workers their unions by refusing to negotiate first contracts. The Employee Free Choice Act also would create meaningful penalties when employers interfere with workers’ freedom to form unions, including triple back pay for fired workers. To commemorate this anniversary and renew our commitment to the fight ahead, please invite 10 friends to join the Voice@Work Network so that they can support worker-friendly legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act and join the fight to restore workers’ freedom to form unions. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/Support_EFCA back to top Two Major Victories at Thomas Built Bus and Goodyear Workers and their unions won two important victories at Thomas Built Bus and Goodyear in recent days. In both cases, workers chose to form a union through a majority sign-up agreement (also known as card-check), but the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed a legal challenge. In both instances, to avoid costly litigation and delay, the unions agreed to an NLRB election, in which the workers again chose union representation. Thomas Built Bus In a crucial victory against the National Right to Work Committee (NRTWC) and its anti-worker allies, the UAW won a decisive election rerun of the majority sign-up win from last year by a 756–548 vote on June 29, in High Point, N.C. No challenges have been filed yet by the NRTWC or the Piedmont Employers Association, which originally filed with the NLRB to overturn the majority verification agreement with Freightliner, which owns Thomas Built Bus. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. More than 320 workers at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. plant in Asheboro, N.C, once again chose to join the United Steelworkers. Last year, workers chose their union through a majority sign-up, but the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed a legal challenge on behalf of a few workers. In a settlement, the union agreed to a new secret-ballot election, which was held June 14–15. The vote clearly upheld the intention of the workers to form a union. These victories are significant for several reasons: (1) They demonstrate majority sign-up is an effective and fair process by which workers can form unions freely; (2) they show nonunion manufacturing workers want to form unions; and (3) they prove workers can win union organizing campaigns in the South under fair terms and a fair process. back to top Representatives Attend Important New Jersey Forum on Freedom to Form Unions On June 27 at the statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey Reps. Robert Andrews, Rush Holt, Robert Menendez, Frank Pallone and Steve Rothman heard testimony from five area workers who experienced harassment, intimidation and even firings for trying to form unions—and the members of U.S. Congress voiced support for the Employee Free Choice Act. “Though H&M is a Swedish company with a mostly unionized workforce in Europe, where it treats its workers with dignity and respect, when the company found out that we were trying to form a union, it responded with intimidation and harassment. The company held mandatory anti-union meetings, where they showed us anti-union videos and tried to persuade us not to form a union,” said warehouse worker Ana Maria Acosta, who is trying to form a union with UNITE HERE. “We wanted to form a union to improve our benefits and wages, ensure job security and win a say in our working conditions. Immediately, we received visits from headquarters management and were forced to endure one-on-one meetings with our supervisors meant to discourage us from forming our union. It seemed that certain workers were required to work overtime, in an effort to convince them to vote no,” said support specialist Paul Patterson of St. John’s Community Services in New Jersey, who is trying to join the Communications Workers of America. “After waiting two years for our right to a union to be recognized, we were anxious to begin negotiations on our first contract. Unfortunately, the hospital obstructed our rights by refusing to bargain in good faith. During the first contract campaign, the hospital fired four nurses. The National Labor Relations Board issued six complaints against the hospital, but that did not force them to the table,” said registered nurse Carol Muller of Virtua West Jersey Hospital, who is seeking to form a union with JNESO. A worker representing the Teamsters and another worker from UNITE HERE also offered testimony in the standing-room-only committee room. All the members of Congress present spoke in support of the Employee Free Choice Act: “You ought to be able to express your will or your opposition to the creation of a union in a noncoercive environment,” said Rep. Andrews. “Workers should be allowed to organize without fear of losing their jobs or having their hours cut back. It is important that as a country we protect the rights of our workers. The Employee Free Choice Act is a necessary step in securing these rights,” said. Rep. Menendez. Other witnesses at the congressional forum included New Jersey state Sen. Bob Smith (D-17), Assemblyman Joe Egan (D-17), New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech, Rutgers Labor Extension Director Adrienne Eaton and former NLRB member Sarah Fox. As workers, elected leaders, academics and allies reiterated their support for the Employee Free Choice Act, the New Jersey state Senate supported legislation to allow certain employees not covered under the National Labor Relations Act to have the right to form a union using a majority sign-up process (also known as card-check). Already passed by the state Assembly, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 24–11. When New Jersey acting Gov. Richard Codey signs this legislation, it will enable more than 30,000 workers statewide to form unions freely without harassment or intimidation. back to top Area Workers Take Florida by Storm A condominium worker at Continental Group and a worker from Pan American Hospital in Miami, who are trying to secure first contracts, joined AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff in meetings with media across Florida to highlight workers’ loss of the freedom to form unions in the United States. Unionized condo workers in cities such as San Francisco earn as much as $16 an hour and have access to affordable health insurance for their families. But Miami's condo workers at Continental Group earn as little as $49 a day and many do not have health coverage for their families. Workers at Pan American decided to form a union in November 2003 to have a say in new hospital policies that dramatically cut staffing levels, increased patient load and reduced employee benefits and compensation. But a year after winning their election by an overwhelming majority (154–4) and despite a bitter anti-union campaign, Pan American Hospital still hasn’t reached a contract with its workers. Following a series of media meetings with workers, Acuff told a South Florida Central Labor Council meeting in Miami, “We must stand with workers trying to exercise the right to freely form unions and bargain collectively. This means that every single time a worker is fired for trying to organize that we—all of us—take that personal crisis in her life and turn it into a public crisis for her employer. Everything that we do is based on a collective unity, that is the source of our power, and anything that disrupts that unity is a devastating obstacle in our ability to carry out our number one priority: to improve people’s lives.” back to top Report Makes Case for Majority Sign-Up A congressional report commissioned by Republicans through the Congressional Research Service offers strong evidence in support of majority sign-up agreements. “Labor Union Recognition Procedures: Use of Secret Ballots And Card Checks,” released May 23, finds that under majority sign-up and neutrality agreements, workers are 16 percent more likely to vote to form unions. Under Canada’s majority sign-up process, the report says, workers win their unions at a rate 9 percentage points higher than under mandatory voting. “By bargaining collectively, instead of individually, unionized workers may obtain higher wages and better working conditions than if each worker bargained individually,” the report finds. “Universal card-check recognition may reduce earnings inequality; mandatory secret ballot elections may increase it.” Not surprisingly, we don’t hear the Republicans who commissioned this report broadcasting its results. To view a copy of the report, please e-mail bpollack@aflcio.org. back to top Please send story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, letters and other information to Bernard Pollack at bpollack@aflcio.org. Thank you for all you do to restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain collectively. Together we will win. In solidarity, Andy Levin Voice@Work Campaign AFL-CIO --------------------------------------------------------------------------------