March 7, 2007

House Approves Plan to Protect Rights of Working Americans

Last week, the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill I sponsored that strengthens workers' rights by allowing them to choose whether or not they want to join a union.  The current system for joining union leaves employees open to intimidation, coercion, harassment, even firing.  This bill protects workers by allowing them to form a union if a majority signs cards stating their support for the creation of a union.  The current system allows workers to form a union only if the employer agrees.  The Employee Free Choice Act is a major first step in bolstering the rights of workers across the country.

I believe that restoring workers' ability to form a union free from coercion or intimidation is the only way to ensure that they have the right to bargain for fair wages and benefits.  The Employee Free Choice Act restores these rights to over 60 million nonunion workers who seek nothing more than decent wages and healthcare.  Restoring the right for workers to negotiate for fair compensation is critical to growing America's middle class over the next fifty years as it did over the past fifty.

Click here to read more on the Employee Free Choice Act. 

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