Teamsters Urge Congress to Pass Employee Free Choice Act

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa:

The House and Senate have an extraordinary opportunity to improve the lives of working families, and the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is a great start. Introduced with bipartisan support, this is the first major attempt to reform labor law since the 1970s.

The idea behind EFCA is simple. Most any American can join a group -- a church group, the PTA at their child's school, or the National Rifle Association -- by signing a card and paying dues. With EFCA, if a majority at a workplace wants to build a union, they sign cards and the employer recognizes their wishes. Negotiations for a labor contract begin soon after.

The current system is broken. Workers, after expressing their desire to form a union, usually endure nasty, bruising, and lawyer-dominated elections, as the employer fights to block its employees' choice.

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development released a study in December 2005 that found outrageous instances of employer resistance when workers decide to form a union: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers; 49 percent of employers threaten to close a worksite when workers try to unionize; 82 percent of employers hire union- busting consultants to fight organizing drives; and 91 percent of employers force employees to attend anti-union meetings one-on-one with supervisors.

Not only is a process that allows such intimidation outrageous, it's anti- American. According to a recent Cornell University study, three-quarters of Americans think employers should be neutral in union elections. More than 50 million Americans are interested in joining a union, but lack fair mechanisms to do so.

The beauty of EFCA is it enables workers to build a union if they desire one. The legislation would ensure that employers respect workers and bargain fairly, providing mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorizing strong penalties for any violations of the law. It will ensure that workers have the freedom to unite at work to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.