Thousands of People Who Don't Have a Union Tell Senate to Pass Employee Free Choice Act

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

Thousands of People Who Don*t Have a Union
Tell Senate to Pass Employee Free Choice Act

AFL-CIO*s 1.6 Million-Member Working America Organizes
Broad-Based Support for Labor Law Reform

(Washington, May 23) -- From doorsteps and entry halls around the
country,  hundreds of Americans a night are calling their U.S. senators
asking them to  support the Employee Free Choice Act -- and they*re
making the calls even  though they aren*t union members.
In fewer than four months, working in only three states, Working
America --  the AFL-CIO*s 1.6 million member community affiliate for
working people who  don*t have a union -- has recruited nearly 5,000
people to contact their  Senators in support of legislation that makes
it harder for employers to  thwart workers* right to form unions.  The
calls and letters from Working  America members in Oregon, Ohio and
Minnesota supplement over a quarter of a  million contacts from union
members to their Senators.  They signal to the  U.S. Senate the depth
and breadth of support for the Employee Free Choice  Act from
communities around the country and from voters who don*t yet belong
to unions.

Working America plans to expand the effort to Kentucky, New Hampshire,
Maine, Iowa and Pennsylvania to continue educating voters specifically
about  the intimidation workers encounter when they try to form unions
to lift  their lives.  By the end of the summer, Working America will
have  approximately 180 staff members talking to Americans around the
country  about the Employee Free Choice Act and other issues that
interest them.

*The effort these men and women are making to contact their elected
representatives shows how important the freedom to bargain for a better
life  is to all Americans * not just to union members and their
families,* said  Karen Nussbaum, director of Working America.  *Our
members are the people  who have been left out of the economic debate in
this country for too long  and many of them are struggling to make ends
meet as a result.  They may  never join a union but they are natural
allies in the fight for social and  economic justice.*

Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was launched
in  2003 to provide a way for workers who don*t have unions on the job
to have a  stronger voice in the issues central to their lives.

In fact, 30 out of 45 people, on average, who meet with a Working
America  representative at their home each night become members
immediately.  Of  those, 20 are likely to send a postcard or borrow the
staffer*s phone and  call Washington right then to support the
Employee Free Choice Act, which  sailed through the U.S. House of
Representatives in March and is likely to  be voted on in the Senate
this summer.

Working America canvassers tell working people one-on-one why the
Employee  Free Choice Act is necessary: One in five pro-union activists
who try to  form a union is fired; 91 percent of employers force workers
to attend one- on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors; 87
percent of workers  must attend other kinds of mandatory meetings
against the union. And workers  who can*t join together to bargain
earn lower wages and benefits.  As  working people have faced growing
interference when they try to form unions,  living standards have
dropped and the middle class has shrunk. 

Canvassers also offer information on other issues of importance to the
communities they are working in, such as good jobs, health care and
retirement security.  Members routinely get information through email
and on  the phone as well.

*We are really excited about the intensity of support we*ve
received for the  workers* freedom to organize,* Nussbaum said.
*Information is Working  America*s most important organizing
tool.  When people are given the  information they need to make choices,
they are willing and able to take  action.  Special inte
rests in
Washington are blanketing the airwaves with  lies and distortions about
this issue, but clearly the working people of  this country are not
buying it.  Their authentic voices should carry more  weight in
Washington than all the spin money can buy.*