The New York Times rounded out 2008 by encouraging President-elect Obama and Secretary of Labor nominee Rep. Hilda Solis to take up the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would ensure that workers have a free choice and a fair chance to form a union, as a top priority:

The measure is vital legislation and should not be postponed. Even modest increases in the share of the unionized labor force push wages upward, because nonunion workplaces must keep up with unionized ones that collectively bargain for increases. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay.

The argument against unions... is one that corporate America makes in good times and bad, so the recession by itself is not an excuse to avoid pushing the bill next year. The real issue is whether enhanced unionizing would worsen the recession, and there is no evidence that it would.

Read the full New York Times editorial.

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The Employee Free Choice Act is common sense federal legislation that would give America's workers a fair and simple path to form a union so they can earn better wages, health benefits and improved working conditions.  

Corporate America's latest pretext for opposing the bill?  Big business alleges it eliminates the option of holding a "secret ballot" union election.  Our latest newspaper ad, running in The Hill, Roll Call, and Politico, lays out the facts.

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Paychecks are shrinking, health care is skyrocketing, and America’s workers are struggling to make ends meet. In today’s economy, we need policies that give workers a fair shake.

The Employee Free Choice Act is part of an economic stimulus package for America’s working families. Our latest newspaper ad, running in The Hill, Roll Call, Daily Congress AM, and Politico, lays out some basic facts about the bill.

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Mary Beth Maxwell appeared on Fox Business today to support the Employee Free Choice Act and debate Mark McKinnon of the "Workforce Fairness Institute." Check out the video to see her explain how the Employee Free Choice Act will restore balance to our economy, and debunk the opposition’s misleading claims about the bill. 

In our current economic climate, the American public is hungry for measures to strengthen the middle class. That’s why we’re unveiling a brand new ad that shows exactly why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

Our nationwide television ad campaign serves as a reminder that we need the Employee Free Choice Act to level the playing field for America’s workers by giving them a fair and direct path to form unions. By restoring the freedom to form unions, the Employee Free Choice Act will help America’s workers get better health care, job security, and benefits.

Now that this historic election is over, we have an unprecedented opportunity to restore our struggling middle class with good, union jobs. President-elect Barack Obama is ready to lead the charge:

I've fought to pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate. And I will make it the law of the land when I'm President of the United States of America.

- President-elect Barack Obama, 4/2/08.

This bill has been before Congress in the past, but with a new Congress and support from Barack Obama, 2009 represents our best chance in years to advance this legislation. Our lawmakers are setting their agenda as we speak – they need to hear from you.

Watch President-elect Obama talk about the Employee Free Choice Act, then sign the petition in support of the bill.

America’s workers won on election night. Despite an extraordinary $20 million spent in nine battleground states to defeat candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act, voters soundly rejected this misleading anti-union campaign from corporate interests and overwhelmingly backed candidates who support working families.

Throughout this historic campaign season, the economy has been the most dominant issue on the minds of American voters. But as the middle class bore the burden of this struggling economy, corporate interest groups have vigorously fought to mislead the public on the Employee Free Choice Act – a reasonable legislative proposal that would help restore balance in this economy by making it easier for workers to form unions.

No matter how hard corporate interests tried to dupe the voters, it just didn’t work. State by state, millions were spent, but the fact remains the Employee Free Choice Act never became the wedge issue corporate interests sought. In fact, not only did the opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act fail to affect these races, often those candidates supporting the bill steadily rose in the polls despite massive advertising on the issue.

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Yesterday was an historic day. Corporate-funded front groups tried – and failed – to use the Employee Free Choice Act as a wedge issue in this election. They spent nearly $20 million dollars to smear candidates who would defend the right to form a union, freely and fairly. And in almost every race, those candidates beat the lies.

These anti-union groups thought they could scare Americans into voting for candidates who would look out for CEOs while leaving the middle class holding the bag. Even Wal-Mart thought it could bully employees into voting against pro-worker candidates. We proved them wrong.

Let's face it. Something's wrong when CEOs rake in hundreds of times what their employees earn, and workers get the boot just for talking about unions.  It could almost be a bad joke if it weren't such a serious problem.

That's why we teamed up with the award-winning producers at Brave New Films to make this video about a workplace where employees work without benefits, pay is based on favoritism, and the CEO is the only one with a contract.

After you watch, we hope you take a minute to sign our petition for the Employee Free Choice Act.