| One Year Ago, We Made a Majority |
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One year ago today, a majority of the U.S. Senate stood up for workers' rights by voting for the Employee Free Choice Act.
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.
As the Campaign for America's Future sums up the situation well today:
The federal government is blocking the freedom of working people to
make their own decisions about joining a union. The current “election”
system for union recognition is decidedly undemocratic. One side—the
corporation—has all the power, controls the information workers
receive, and routinely poisons the process by intimidating, harassing,
coercing, and even firing people who try to organize unions.
We're going to continue to push to save the middle class in the next Congress. We hope to have the best shot yet at passing the Employee Free Choice Act next year by building on our existing majority in Congress, and we may even have a President who'll sign the bill.
As CAF also notes,
This is a good time to ask people running for office whether they stand
with workers and their right to form unions or with the corporations
and conservative enablers who would block this right.
Take the first step now. Declare your support for the Employee Free Choice Act by signing our petition. |
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