Bill Belichick knows the cost of breaking the rules. The coach of the New England Patriots was forced to cough up $500,000--about 12% of his annual salary--for spying on his opponents during the NFL's season opener. The league's punishment didn't stop there - the Patriots also had to pay a quarter-million dollar fine and give up at least one draft pick. Discipline was swift and severe. All in all, the punishment was the NFL's biggest ever, and it surely sent a message to every team in the league. The incident stands in stark contrast to another reported last week by the Las Vegas Sun involving Wal-Mart, the world's biggest employer.

Breaking news from the Senate: just a few moments ago, the Senate took up the Employee Free Choice Act (S.1041).  And we had incredible momentum today:  51 Senators stood up for workers’ rights!   However, 60 votes were needed to proceed on the bill at this time. (See how your Senator voted here.)

Mary Beth Maxwell, Executive Director of American Rights at Work, released the following statement after the vote:

Today's procedural maneuver by a minority of Senators shows that they can stop the debate on the Senate floor, but they can't stop our momentum. Champions of workers' rights and their allies will do everything we can to push this vehicle forward in Congress. 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 recognize that the Employee Free Choice is a vital part of restoring America's middle class.

On the morning of Tuesday, June 19, Senator Edward M. Kennedy started the debate on the Employee Free Choice Act, and it could come to a vote as early as this week.  To get up-to-the-minute coverage on the bill, visit the AFL-CIO's blog.  It's still not too late to contact your Senator and urge them to vote for this critical workers' rights legislation.

Later in the day on Tuesday, thousands of people participated in a massive rally in Washington, DC to help mobilize support for the Employee Free Choice Act, critical workers’ rights legislation that could soon come up for debate in the Senate.  It was truly inspiring - look at this slideshow of photos from the rally and see for yourself.

As action in the Senate nears, it’s time for all of us to speak out and get involved to help make the Employee Free Choice Act a reality for America’s workers.  We'll have more updates for you on the bill as we get them!

Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have a one-note strategy to derail reform of our broken labor law system.  The anti-union, right-wing, business lobby simply spins the same broken record of lies, over and over again. 

Track 1 is the bogus assertion: "The bill does away with secret ballot elections, and, elections without secret ballots are undemocratic." Track 2 is the counterfeit claim: "Elections for union representation are just like elections for Congress."

American Rights at Work can't turn off their cacophony, but we can expose the lies of these lip synchers.

We've created a chart that makes clear that current union elections involving secret ballots bear no resemblance to political elections.

On Monday, May 21, 2007, we hosted a Senate briefing, "A Solution to the Middle Class Squeeze: The Employee Free Choice Act," to a packed Capitol Hill audience.  American Rights at Work brought the voices of workers and experts to the Hill to share why the right to organize is essential to preserving and growing America’s middle class and why a growing number of organizations outside of the labor movement support workers' rights and the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041). 

At the briefing:

• Our Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell summarized the obstacles facing workers who try to form union and said that, “it is time we stopped locking workers into a broken legal system that fails them again and again and again.”
  
• American Rights at Work Board Member and President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Wade Henderson, shared how “the right to organize… is invigorating the civil rights community.”   He explained why the Employee Free Choice Act is one of his coalition’s top priorities, and why so many advocates see this legislation as critical to rebuilding America’s middle class: “We need protections [like this] that advance our collective well being.”  
  
• Daniel Luevano, of Keenesburg, CO, shared his personal experience of trying to form a union without the support of the Employee Free Choice Act.   Daniel worked as an electrician for 10 years with Ries Electric, but was illegally fired after trying to form a union at his company.   Although he was eventually reinstated, the tactics used by his employer effectively scared employees from voting for the union.  With the Employee Free Choice Act, “we would have won representation and (the boss) would have been forced to bargain with us right off the bat without all the intimidation,” said Luevano.

A number of compelling editorial pieces published in recent weeks make a strong case for the Employee Free Choice Act: 

• New York Times columnist Bob Herbert discussed in an op-ed how crucial the freedom to form unions is to raising workers out of poverty, referencing the recommendations made by the Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty in its recent report.

• Professor Peter Dreier of Occidental College, and Kelly Candaele, a trustee of the Los Angeles Community College District, co-authored a fantastic piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education, TomPaine.com, and AlterNet  about how all working people will gain from passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

• Professor Thomas Kochan of MIT argued for why workers need their collective bargaining power strengthened in a special "Ending Poverty in America" edition of The American Prospect .

• Professor James Brudney of Ohio State University and author of the American Constitution Society issue brief on the power of neutrality and card check agreements, served as the "pro" voice in an Employee Free Choice Act debate in the editorial pages of The Columbus Dispatch.

A growing number of organizations outside of the labor movement care about workers' rights and the Employee Free Choice Act from the American Library Association to US Action.  Learn more about our allies here. 

If your organization has endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act or provided support for it, please let us know so we can add you to the site!

American Rights at Work will host a Senate briefing, "A Solution to the Middle Class Squeeze: The Employee Free Choice Act," on Monday, May 21st from 12:30-1:30pm.  The event will feature workers, our Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell, and Wade Henderson, President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Two recently released reports make the case for the Employee Free Choice Act:   

• The Institute for America's Future co-released with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) "The Employee Free Choice Act Impact on Health Care and Pension Benefits," a new report demonstrating how the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act would significantly increase the number of workers receiving health and pension benefits.
  

• The Human Rights Watch May 1 report, "Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers' Right to Freedom of Association," received media attention in high-profile outlets such as "The New York Times," "The Wall Street Journal," "The Washington Post," and "The Guardian" on its dramatic findings and the group's endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act.

1.  Senate Introduces Employee Free Choice Act.  Momentum continues for the Employee Free Choice Act!  On Thursday, March 29, Sen. Edward Kennedy introduced the legislation – S. 1041 – in the Senate.  We now move toward building a majority of support in the Senate for this critical bill.

2.  1st Senate Hearing Held on Legislation to Protect Workers & Strengthen Middle Class.  On Tuesday, March 27, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held the Senate’s first hearing on the Employee Free Choice Act.  Testifiers included New York University Professor of Law Cynthia Estlund, Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel, and Errol Hohrein, who was fired for trying to form a union in his workplace.  As a result of his experience, Hohrein proclaimed “Labor law in this country is broken, it doesn’t support working people. We’re on the brink and no one’s looking out for us. It’s time for the government to do the right thing and pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”  Watch the webcast of the hearing.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee just announced it will hold the Senate’s first hearing on the Employee Free Choice Act on Tuesday, March 27 at 10 am in Dirksen 430.  The hearing will examine how the legislation will restore economic opportunity for working families.  Click here for more information, or to view the post-hearing transcripts when they become available. 

And while the Employee Free Choice Act has not yet been introduced in the Senate, you can let your Senators know how much you care about this legislation.  Write your Senators to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act!

On March 1st the House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act!  Some 241 members, including 13 Republicans, supported the bill.  A majority of our elected officials stood up against a barrage of misinformation and hundreds of thousands of dollars of negative advertising to support the rights of millions of hard-working men and women.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of interfaith organizations, human rights groups, civil rights advocates, public interest organizations, academics, environmentalists, and our activists, working families won.

This is an incredible victory for all of us who care about a more just and fair society.  But this battle is not over yet.

To win back workers' rights, we need to ramp up our efforts for the upcoming Senate battle over this legislation.  By making a donation to American Rights at Work now, you'll help provide us with critical support for our efforts for the Senate debate.  These next few weeks could make the difference for America's workers—please donate today !