Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) voted for bipartisan legislation that would give American workers a fair chance and a free choice to form a union.  The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800), introduced by House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, passed by a vote of 241 to 185.  Rep. Green was an original cosponsor of the bill.

"It is as a result of unions that we can enjoy weekends with our families, benefit from basic health and safety protections, and take advantage of family and medical leave.  Today’s vote sends a strong signal to the men and women who make this country run that they are not alone in their fight for higher wages, improved benefits, and better working conditions."

The law says that employers cannot intimidate, coerce, or fire employees for attempting to exercise their democratic rights.  Yet employers often use a combination of legal and illegal methods to silence employees who try to form unions.  A recent analysis of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) data shows that one in five active union supporters is illegally fired for union activity during union organizing drives.  Surveys also reveal that every 23 minutes a worker is illegally fired or discriminated against for their support of a union and 51 percent of employers illegally threaten to close down worksites if employees vote for union representation.

"There is a reason why over 60 million workers say they want unions.  That is because workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non-union workers, are 63 percent more likely to have employer-provided health care than non-union workers, and are nearly 400 percent more likely to have guaranteed pensions than non-union workers.  There is no doubt that the right to unionize is the right to pursue the American dream."

The discrepancy between wages of union and non-union workers is even more pronounced among women, African Americans, and Latinos. Women in unions earn $9,300 more a year (31%) than their non-union counterparts.  African Americans in unions earn $9,700 more a year (36%) than their non-union counterparts.  Latinos in unions earn $11,300 more a year (46%) than their non-union counterparts.

"It is astonishing that some would try to prevent some of the hardest working Americans the right to organize at a time when the average CEO in the United States makes more than 260 times the pay of the average worker.  A CEO earns more in one day than an average worker earns in one year."