Miami-Dade County Commission Endorses Employee Free Choice Act

For Immediate Release
Contact: Caren Benjamin (202) 637-5018

Miami-Dade County Commission Endorses Employee Free Choice Act
Miami Latest Locality to Call on Congress to Defend Workers' Freedom to Bargain Collectively and Restore Our Nation's Middle Class

(Miami, May 9) - - With passage of a resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act, the Miami-Dade County Commission and the Mayor of Miami today joined the nearly 30 state and local government bodies who have stood up for the rights of working people to form unions and bargain for a better life. 

"We are grateful for the efforts of the Miami-Dade County Commission who have shown their crucial support of America's workers, and also for the energy, hard work and passion of South Florida's union members and their families, whose dedication made this resolution a reality, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "Local officials see firsthand the community-wide harm done by stagnant wages, skyrocketing personal debt and out-of-control health care costs. These elected leaders know that a union contract is the best economic uplift program for working people in our nation's history and are brave enough to tell the U.S. Congress that its time to take action."

South Florida AFL-CIO President Fred Frost also thanked Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who signed on to the resolution. "Our Mayor and our County Commission have shown true leadership on the rights of working families. As the governing officials of the eighth largest county in America, their voices should be heard loud and clear in the halls of the U.S. Congress."

Approved overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives in March, the Employee Free Choice Act restores balance to the system of forming unions and bargaining. The legislation gives employees - not employers - the option of deciding how they will choose whether to form a union.  The workers may choose either of the options that exist today - ballot elections or majority sign-up, which enables people to form unions when a majority of employees indicate in writing they want one.  The legislation, now pending before the U.S. Senate, also creates real penalties for employers who illegally interfere with organizing efforts and sets up a system to ensure that workers get a first contract even if their employers refuse to bargain in good faith.

To date, similar resolutions supporting the Employee Free Choice Act have been passed in cities, states and counties coast to coast, ranging from Boston to Portland, the Alabama House of Representatives to Summit County, Ohio. With the Miami resolution and one headed for passage this week in Lancaster County, Penn., there soon will be 30 that have received official support from their local governments. Nearly 40 more are pending in places ranging from Los Angeles to Buffalo.