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EFCA Hits Senate Snag
(09/01/07) After weeks of delays and debate, proponents tried in late June to get the legislation to the Senate floor for a straight “up or down” vote. Opponents of the measure, however, garnered enough votes to defeat an effort to cut off debate that would have allowed a final vote on the measure itself to occur. The vote to close debate was 51 to 48; Senate rules require 60 votes to close debate. [read more]
Despite Majority Support,
‘EFCA’ Blocked in Senate
(06/28/07) Although a majority of U.S. Senators clearly favor the Employee Free Choice Act, anti-worker lawmakers have prevented the Senate from passing the measure. Fifty-one senators voted June 26 to end debate and pass the act. But the 48 senators who oppose the bill voted against “cloture,” preventing a vote on the bill.
[read more]
Unions Rally for Employee Free Choice Act
(06/20/07) 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. [read more] | [photo gallery]
Senate to Consider
Employee Free Choice Act
(06/19/07) Beginning June 19, the U.S. Senate is expected to debate legislation that would remove many of the obstacles faced by American workers who want to form unions. The Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041), which would give employees greater freedom to make their own choices about joining unions and bargaining for better wages, benefits, and working conditions, could be voted on this week. [read more]
EFCA Passes the House,
Is Introduced in Senate
(05/01/07) Despite a fierce lobbying campaign by big business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the House of Representatives passed the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800), on March 1, by a vote of 241-185. [read more]
Employee Free Choice Act
Introduced in Senate
(03/30/07) One of the most important labor law reform measures in decades was introduced in the U.S. Senate March 29 – legislation that would give American workers greater freedom to make their own choices about joining unions and bargaining for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
Sen. Edward Kennedy and 46 co-sponsors introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041), a bill that would stiffen penalties for harassment, intimidation, and other illegal tactics employers often use to prevent workers from having a voice at work. [read more]
Senate to Hold Hearing
On Employee Free Choice Act
(03/23/07) A Senate Committee will hear testimony March 27 from workers and labor law experts on the need to restore workers’ freedom to form unions to bargain for better wages and benefits.
“It’s no secret that a union contract is the best economic uplift program for working people in this country,” said Errol Hohrein, a worker at Front Range Energy who was fired after he and co-workers formed a union. He said the bill would restore the choice to bargain for a better life to people like him who have been denied it. Hohrein is scheduled to testify before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. [read more]
U.S. House Approves Employee Free Choice Bill
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(03/02/07) The House of Representatives voted 241-185 in favor of legislation that would strengthen workers’ ability to bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions by safeguarding their rights when they choose to form unions.
Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education & Labor Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill, said the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) would reform a broken system in which “employers frequently intimidate, harass, reassign or even fire workers who support the formation of a union.”
APWU President William Burrus praised the March 1 vote, and thanked union members for their efforts in securing its approval in the House. [read more]
New York Times Endorses EFCA
"Labor unions have a role to play in helping to fix today’s economic ills — most notably, worsening income inequality, a problem that’s caused in part by unions’ decline and the workers’ resulting lack of bargaining power. What’s needed is a Congressional drive to help Mr. Bush see this obvious connection. The Senate should take up the House bill promptly and send it to the president for his signature."
— NY Times editorial, March 6, 2007
NLRB's Attack on Workers
“The Bush [National Labor Relations] Board over the past five years has revealed an alarming and systematic rollback in workers’ rights... At the same time, the Bush Board has displayed a great deal of tolerance for employer behavior designed to discourage unionization. Often, the rationales from one case to another are not consistent. The outcome of each case, however, is almost invariably a setback for labor unions and the rights of workers.” — Excerpts from conclusion of Rep. George Millers' report, "President Bush’s National Labor Relations Board Rolls Back Labor Protections" [PDF]
