Unions Rally for Employee Free Choice Act

APWU officers, staff and members from as far away as Richmond and Philadelphia joined thousands of union activists at a rally June 19 on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol to demand enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act — legislation that would ensure that working people can freely choose whether to form unions to negotiate for better wages and benefits.

On a sweltering afternoon, many members of Congress joined union activists and dozens of workers who had been unlawfully reprimanded or fired for trying to form a union, urging the crowd to turn up the heat on the White House and senators who have not yet declared support for the bill (S. 1041). The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week.

Speakers included Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Joe Biden (D-DE), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney noted that “Never before has there been such a groundswell of support. Working families nationwide are calling on the Senate to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to reverse the decades-long decline of the middle class and give workers back the freedom to join and form unions without fear of intimidation.”

Sweeney joined other union leaders in calling on Congress to level the playing field between management and workers. “We’re waiting for the Senate to lead the country into a new era,” he said, “where workers are able to exercise their freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.”

Several workers addressed the rally, sharing their personal experiences in trying to organize unions under current law. They all asked Congress to restore their right to choose.

“I was fired for trying to form a union,” said Lee Mabry, a worker from Connecticut. “I know firsthand what desperate measures the company will take to keep the union out of their workplaces. Working families can’t form unions until the Employee Free Choice Act is passed to allow workers to form unions without fear of corporate retribution.”