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 A robust middle class. Economic growth and shared prosperity. The American Dream. None are possible without good union jobs that protect workers.
That's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act – critical legislation that would give more workers a way to form unions and negotiate for better wages, health care, and working conditions.
CWA is teaming up with hundreds of groups and unions to launch a massive campaign: the Million Member Mobilization.
We're going to show the new President and Congress that there are one million people who want to give hardworking families a chance to get ahead. CWA members are taking the lead, with thousands signing the petition at CWA district and local meetings already. Can you join them to be one of the first?
Click here to sign the petition for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Why is this bill so important? It's plain as day: workers are struggling in this country.
Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by. The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Corporate interests are fighting CWA and the Employee Free Choice Act with everything they've got. They're protecting the status quo – a rigged system which allows employers to intimidate, harass, and even fire workers who try to form a union. We're not talking about isolated incidents: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives.1
Consider the story of two workers in the telecom industry. John Lindner has been a Verizon Business technician for seven years in New York. He's a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and over 60 percent of his colleagues have signed up to join with CWA and IBEW to win representation. But Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg refused to grant them recognition. Instead, even the Bush administration's labor board cited Verizon for illegal harassment and retaliation for their organizing activities. John told a joint Senate/House panel in Washington last December: "I served my country and fought for freedom. But when I returned home, I found that my freedom to join a union was denied."
Compare that story to that of John Upright, a wireless retail worker in North Carolina. John works for AT&T Mobility, where CWA has negotiated a majority sign up and neutrality agreement. He and some of his coworkers started a union drive and management stayed out of it. When a majority had signed union cards, their signatures were presented to a neutral third party which verified majority support. They were immediately certified as CWA members and went on to bargain a contract.
With passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, the story of John Upright will be the story of John Lindner at Verizon Business, at Verizon Wireless and of millions of other American workers.
Sign your name to the petition and add your voice to this growing movement. Help us meet our goal of one million signatures!
When you sign, be sure to upload your picture, too. We'll share it with lawmakers so they can see the faces of everyone who cares about this issue.
Together, we can change the law, change the economy, and change our futures for the better.
For more information about the Employee Free Choice Act, go to http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/pages/efca_learnmore .
1 Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore, Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns, Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dec. 2005.
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