New AFL-CIO Ads Let Workers Tell Why Labor Law Must Be Fixed

Ads Support Bill to Restore Freedom to Bargain for a Better Life

 

 

 (Washington, Feb. 6) - - A new advertising campaign launched by the AFL-CIO spotlights what really happens to tens of thousands of working men and women every year when they try to form unions and bargain for a better life.  The ads also urge viewers to call their elected representatives in support of legislation - - the Employee Free Choice Act - - to restore workers' freedom to unite for better wages and benefits.  They will run in Wednesday's edition of The New York Times, The Washington Post, Roll Call, The Hill and The Politico.  A full-page ad ran Sunday, February 4 in The New York Times.   The ads tell the story of Bill Lawhorn, who was fired after 11 years as a forklift driver for Consolidated Biscuit in McComb, Ohio because he tried to form a union.  Three-quarters of the workers at Bill's plant joined the union effort.  "We wanted to be treated like human beings, we wanted a better life," says Bill in the ad.  The company harassed, threatened and forced Bill and his co-workers to attend anti-union meetings.  The company's tactics succeeded in keeping a majority of workers from voting to form a union.  The day after the election, Bill was fired.  That was 2002.  The National Labor Relations Board has since ordered him reinstated with back pay and called for a new election.  "Bill's still waiting. Without a steady job. Borrowing from his kids. And no union to help his co-workers fight for better wages, benefits and respect," the ad says. Studies show that employers routinely violate workers' freedom to form unions, and the law is helpless to stop them.  A quarter of private sector employers illegally fire union supporters.  More than three-quarters require supervisors to deliver anti-union messages to the workers whose jobs and pay they control.  Even after workers successfully form a union, they can't get a contract one third of the time.  The bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) on Monday, would level the playing field for workers, and fix the broken system for forming unions and bargaining.  The bill strengthens penalties for companies that break the law by coercing or intimidating employers.  It also establishes a third-party mediation and arbitration process when employers and employees can't agree on a first contract. And it enables employees to form unions when a majority choose to do so in writing. 
 

"We will present the faces and the stories of the men and women who desperately need the law changed so their free choice to form a union can be honored," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said.  "The best opportunity for working women and men to get ahead economically is by coming together with their co-workers to bargain with their employer for a better life - through a union."

 Government statistics show that working men and women who have a union today make 30 percent more than workers who don't have a union, and are much more likely to have health insurance and retirement plans. For more information see www.employeefreechoiceact.org.