More Proof That We Need the Employee Free Choice Act

Remind me again why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important, you ask:

"A new study by a Cornell University professor of 1,004 union organizing drives has found that employers threatened to close plants in 57 percent of the campaigns and threatened to cut wages and benefits in 47 percent.

The study, to be released Wednesday, also found that employers fired pro-union workers in 34 percent of the campaigns. And it asserted that management’s antiunion tactics had helped pushed down the unionization rate to 12.4 percent, from 22 percent three decades ago."

That's why.

Is it just me, or is 22% not even that satisfying?

This is a post more suited for the last long weekend of the summer, Labor Day.  But let's not forget the organizing work and support that we need to give to the EFCA in these coming months.  I live in a pretty pro-union state and city, and come from a union family, more or less.  I know that unions can become a problem unto themselves, when they sacrifice the good of all their workers for a few, and that many of the unions have a history of racism and exclusion.  But enforcing workers' rights and encouraging unionization is key to reducing poverty; we'd be better served as a society if we worked to strengthen unions - including their internal practices - rather than trying to eliminate them outright.

We need to respect the rights of workers, the value of labor in business, and the benefits of collective action. Think about it as you hopefully get a reprieve from your own hard work this long weekend.

Tell Congress and President Obama to support the Employee Free Choice Act today!