According to research conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in December 2006, about 60 million U.S. workers say they would join or form a union if they could.
All too often, when they try to gain a voice on the job by forming a union, employers routinely respond with intimidation, harassment and retaliation - and all too often, they get get away with it thanks to the pro-employer policies of the National Labor Relations Board.
It's no secret as to why so many want to join a union. The average American today is swimming in debt while savings has hit its lowest level in 74 years. Corporate America's private retirement and health obligations are now being rolled back.
So how did a pro-employer National Labor Relations Board help contribute to the present state of America's middle and working class? It did so through a series of draconian pro-employer measures that have served to tilt the field of employee-employer relations severely to the pro-employer side - by making it next to impossible for a person to have the freedom to choose to form or join a union.
While right wing and pro-business pundits spend their paid time questioning the legitimacy of unions on behalf of their financial backers, the real world differences that unions make are clear.
Statistics from the US Department of Labor show, for example, that compensation for union members is significantly higher in nearly every occupational category.
Business and financial operations occupations + 4.27%
Professional and related occupations + 4.57%
Community and social services occupations + 24.17%
Legal Occupations + 10.96%
Education, training and library occupations + 30.86%
Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations +26.39%
Health care practitioner and technical occupations + 11.53%
Service occupations + 68.38%
Health care support occupations + 14.21%
Protective service occupations + 59.96%
Food preparation and serving related occupations + 25.35%
Building/ grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations
+ 39.95%
Personal care and service occupations + 32.49%
Sales and office occupations + 21.47%
Office and administrative support occupations + 30.25%
Natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations + 49.23%
Construction and extraction occupations + 55.14%
Installation, maintenance and repair occupations + 33.84%
Production, transportation and material moving occupations + 37.95%
Production occupations + 35.39%
Transportation and material moving occupations + 41.55%
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Besides wages and compensation, people who join and form unions have a better chance of getting access to pension and health care benefits.
From the AFL-CIO
Besides the effect of negotiated collective bargaining agreements on union workers, there is a profound advantage for non-union workers who are employed in industries that have some unionization. The Economic Policy Institue found that a non-union employee is paid at least 5 percent more in industries with at least 25 percent of its workforce represented by a union.
Instead of policies that promote a person's right to choose to belong to an organization devoted to mutual aid, or policies that look to promote the economic interests of middle and working class Americans, the National Labor Relations Board and its business backed allies have done everything in their power to discourage the right of freedom of association.
Among other things, in just the past six years, the NLRB has:
Allowed employers to ban off duty speech by employees - undermining the basic privacy rights of workers.
Allowed employers to retaliate against employees and third party groups for supporting collective bargaining and the rights of employees.
Overturned a Clinton Administration decision and took away the rights of graduate students to form and join unions on campus.
Taken away the right to negotiate contracts from millions of professional workers by reclassifying them as supervisors.
The Employee Free Choice Act would go a long way towards fixing this broken down system by reforming the nation's basic labor laws.
It would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation.
It would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions or negotiate first contracts.
And, on a macro level, it would bring balance to the field of labor management relations where anti-worker employers are allowed to trample on the bargaining rights of millions of American workers without fear of any consequences.
Please contact your contact your Senators and Representatives to let them know how vital this bill is to the economic future of millions of American workers.
In it, she does not mention once labor arbitrage in the profession, beyond one token acknowledgment that offshore outsourcing is affecting the future of engineering within the United States.
She lists some serious challenges in terms of educating engineers in such a dynamic field, but the reality
of corporations trying to turn such difficult professional skills into something akin to being trained as a burger flipper for cost purposes, is not addressed.
Here in lies a problem and in a way, I'm not surprised an international prestigious University isn't addressing these issues...but I think it's also a state of denial.
Professionals, from Medical Doctors to researchers to scientists to engineers truly, truly need to look at labor issues and realize "brains", even to the point of innovating products that will create millions in revenue streams, is simply unprotected and good old fashioned labor protections need to be examined and adopted.
They aren't going to think their way out of labor issues, regardless of the brilliance contained within those who claim the field as their profession.
now not to rain on the parade, but Bush would veto this bill in a heartbeat. and that's assuming it somehow got past a Senate filibuster. I guess it's more of a long term strategy to get Congressmen to go on record supporting or opposing the bill?
Now I'd love to see this get passed, but watching the AFL push this legislation so hard reminds me of why I leans towards the Change To Win Federation's approach to things. I just don't think we can keep waiting for congress to make it easier to organize. Many unions have managed to get Card Check neutrality agreements from individual companies and thus been able to successfully organize large numbers of workers.
so i guess my question to the other labor folks on here would be: is the passage of this bill realistic?
Today, people are talking about it being introduced and right wingers are dusting off their anti-union playbooks from the 1950s.
It's high time this thing pass. I've been involved in too many organizing campaigns, right here in Virginia as well, where I have seen people get fired and harassed.
What this would do in a state like Viginia once it is passed would be groundbreaking by the way.
In fact, I can guarantee you there would be at least close to amillion union members in the state within 10 years and not just a revived Democratic Party, but one that dominates the state at all levels.
As a lawyer for a large national Union, it is my belief that the EFCA would give a boost to labor on a scale not seen since the passage of the original Act (which, as you know, has been weakened ever since).
Of course the same media that ignored Webb's wonderful address on economic fairness, would likely also ingore coverage of the EFCA, since our corporate-dominated media wrongly thinks that thriving workers may somehow be detrimental to its own well-being.