Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.
Unfortunately for Wal-Mart workers, this intimidation is nothing new. It's actually part and parcel for Wal-Mart's business plan. When Wal-Mart employees stand up for themselves and try to form a union, they face threats, propaganda, discrimination, intimidation, and even firings in retaliation.
American Rights at Work is waging an
aggressive effort to educate the public in
local campaigns, train community leaders to
become advocates for our cause, mobilize state
networks to support the Employee Free Choice Act and
speak out in the media in support of this
bill.
We need to mobilize now, but it can't
be done without your help. Our fundraising deadline is
this Monday.
$25 provides
materials to train local leaders to become
spokespeople for the Employee Free Choice Act.
$50 can
sponsor an ad on a local website in one of our
target states.
$100 helps
launch our big YouTube video campaign, led by
an Emmy-nominated film producer.
$250 will help
fund message research and build our
rapid-response network, so we can fight back
when anti-worker groups run misleading ads.
Can you imagine a CEO agreeing to work without a contract guaranteeing pay and benefits?
It would never happen. But when employers prevent a union from forming,
that's exactly what they're making employees do: work without a
contract.
All workers - not just CEOs - deserve fair wages, decent benefits,
and safe working conditions - but without a contract, many will never
get them. That's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.
The One Million Strong campaign is picking up speed. More than 300,000 people have already signed our petition, but we can’t reach one million without you.
Passing the Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for
millions of workers to negotiate a contract and have a good union job.
Why is that so important? Unions have always been the bedrock of
America’s middle class. With hardworking families feeling the squeeze
from economic policies that bail out billionaires but abandon workers,
it’s time to level the playing field.
We caught up with Amber Lee Ettinger—aka "Obama Girl"—last week, and asked for her thoughts on the Employee Free Choice Act. Check out this video we made:
This video shows what the Employee Free Choice Act is all about. Originally produced for SEIU at their international convention last month, this 8-minute movie explains what the Employee Free Choice Act is, why we need it, and who it'd help. If you've got eight minutes, sit back, press play, and pass on this video to friends and family.
On June 26, 2007 51 Senators joined 241 members of the House
in supporting this bill to restore the middle class. Unfortunately, a
procedural move by a minority of anti-worker Senators meant that the
chamber fell short of the 60 votes needed to send the bill to the
President.
At the time, American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell noted:
Anti-worker interests and legislators are standing in the way of
progress, but they won't prevail. It's no longer about if—it's about
when we restore workers' freedom to form unions. Hard-working men and women deserve a free choice and a fair chance at
forming a union. And a majority in Congress recognizes that the Employee
Free Choice Act is a vital part of restoring America's middle class.
Not corporate CEOs. Too many of them have made
sure to secure a golden parachute for themselves while workers face soaring
healthcare costs, foreclosures, and an uncertain future.
The Employee Free Choice Act
would help level the playing field and get our economy back on track. That's why last week
we launched a huge campaign to get one million people to
support this bill and tell Congress it’s time for change.
A robust middle class. Economic growth and shared
prosperity. The American Dream. None are possible without good union
jobs that protect workers.
That's why we
need the Employee Free Choice Act - critical legislation that would
give more workers a way to form unions and negotiate for better wages,
health care, and working conditions. American Rights at Work is teaming
up with hundreds of groups and unions to launch a massive campaign: One Million Strong for the Employee Free
Choice Act.
We're going to show the new President and Congress that there are
one million peoplewho want to give hardworking
families a chance to get ahead.
Why is this bill so important? It's plain as day: workers are struggling in this country.
While working on John Edwards' presidential
campaign, I met working people across the country struggling just to
make ends meet. For some time now, the financial hardships experienced
by men and women in the heartland have been ignored or even overlooked
by politicians and pundits alike in Washington. With last Friday's news
that the nation's unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May, the
highest monthly rise in two decades, this is no longer the case. Those
inside the beltway are finally starting to come to terms and focus on
this serious economic crisis.
Our economy is headed on the wrong track and
taking good, hard-working people with it. Unemployment is rising
through the roof, inflation and energy prices are skyrocketing, and a
tragic number of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure due to
the housing and credit crisis. Now more than ever before, we need to
continue our efforts to preserve America's middle class. Workers need
political solutions that work for them, and they need political leaders
who have strength and courage to get them through these tough times.
A growing, bipartisan coalition of policymakers supports the Employee
Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would ensure workers have a
free choice and a fair chance to form a union.