The U.S. House and Senate introduced the Employee Free Choice Act today, launching the legislative battle to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
It’s a great day for working families and a sign of the change that America voted for last fall. It's important to note that this bill isn't an abstract issue: it affects millions of workers across the country, workers who deserve the ability to bargain for a fair share of the value they create.
At today's Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, some of these workers got a chance to talk about what the freedom to form unions and bargain has meant to them.
Deborah Kelly is an Electrical Workers (IBEW) member, an apprentice line worker in Alaska. She said her union membership offered her a lifelong career that includes health insurance, a living wage and a pension. She also values the training and assistance she’s received from other union members on the job. In a dangerous position—repairing electrical lines in mountain passes—Kelly says that the workplace safety she relies on is due to having a strong union. And as the only woman on her crew, Kelly appreciates that her union protects her from discrimination.
Thanks to my detailed classroom training, and the help of journeymen, we pulled off these dangerous operations with success. I have a solid career with a future, I know I can work hard and receive a decent paycheck. I know I’ll work with the most highly trained people and I’ll come home safe. I know I’m never alone—my union provides a safety net and helps me ensure I have equal opportunity employment.
Before she was hired as a line worker, Kelly was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As a cancer survivor working in a seasonal industry, union health care made it affordable to get coverage and stay healthy.
Sharon Harrison, a CWA member and call center employee in Lebanon, Va., says her union benefits her family, her co-workers and her community. As employees of AT&T Mobility, Harrison and her co-workers utilized majority sign-up, without interference from her bosses. AT&T Mobility agreed to stay neutral and allow workers the choice about forming a union. It was simple, she said: Workers at her call center wanted a union—and they got a union.
Because of that agreement, we weren’t afraid anymore that management would retaliate against us for trying to form a union. When more than a majority of workers signed up for representation, all of us at AT&T Mobility were better for it. For workers, we were able to get better pay and benefits, lower health care costs, a grievance procedure and more opportunities. We know we’re providing quality service and we know AT&T respects us. It’s good for our employer, too. We’re in a real partnership—we have a framework to solve problems on the job, a clear path to improving our jobs and our work, that’s important to us and to our employer. We have the kind of jobs that enable you to support your family and contribute to the community. A quality workforce gives a real competitive edge. We’re proud we work for a company that respects us, listens to us and consider us a real partner.
The Employee Free Choice Act is important because all workers deserve the chance that I had. I know what a difference it makes when you don’t have to be scared to stand up for a voice at work.
Harrison, a member of the bargaining committee for her union, says her union—and the freedom she had from corporate interference—has made a real difference in her life, from on-the-job training to better health coverage for her family.
For more stories of workers and why they support the Employee Free Choice Act, click here.