Act would put democracy back in workplace

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Act would put democracy back in workplace

This is in response to the article by Jim Evans published in the April 15th issue in which only one side of a very important issue, Free Choice Law, was printed. With Mr. Evans being a president of a consulting firm it is not surprising that he would be adamantly against any legislation that would help the working men and women of America.

The Employee Free Choice Act would guarantee workers are afforded a fair chance to choose union representation and ensure strong wages, affordable health care and safe working conditions without fear of losing their jobs. Currently, the NLRB does eventaully conduct an election. However, the NLRB, a government entity, prolongs the election process which provides employers with ample time to initiate their one-on-one mandatory meetings, threats, intimidation and coercion. Every 23 minutes, a worker is fired or harassed for trying to unionize, right here in America, the land of the free. American workers deserve better than this.

Forming a union is an American right and a human right. The current NLRB system is not working for the American workers. The Employee Free Choice Act is landmark legislation that would put democracy back into the workplace and protect workers from the abuses of their employers. The EFCA would create real penalties for employers who violate the rights of workers, including mandatory injunctions to protect workers from illegal firings and discrimination, back pay for workers who are illegally fired during union organizing campaigns, and allows for civil fines of up to $20,000 per violation against employers found to have willfully or repeatedly violated employees?226-130? rights.

It is time to stand up for the middle class, which is slowly disappearing, and stand against big corporate interests. The EFCA will create a mechanism to ensure that corporations cannot endlessly stall negotiations on a first contract. This is not a radical bill, but a rational method to restore balance in the workplace. I also encourage every employee who actually values free choice to contact their legislators and urge them to support this measure.

S. Yvonne Sidwell
Frazeysburg


Replies so far:

In a nation where Time Warner dictates postal prices for small political publications, big oil and gas dictate legislation on an energy bill and Wal-Mart dictates the business model, that nation is nothing short of colapsing worker rights not to third world levels but to the old company town asolute power levels that saw Miners murdered in West Virgingia, Auto workers murdered in Detroit and fat cats getting fatter as the working population was stung from al sides.

Wal-Mart has the four richist Americans as owners and yet it fights unionization, why would that be? Why would they have sent an internal memo decrying the need to get rid of senior workers to hire new workers to keep the wage where they want it? In two recent documenteries one pro Wal-Mart model on against, they made no bones about the fact jeans were made in china. Pro left out that after putting the 35 pair together 19 cents was shared by three of the women and girls some as young as 12.

This model dictates that there must be a very large low wage worker system so that profits can be held by investers, it is necessary to keep the wages just high enough to allow workers to afford the bare essentials of life only. (Wall Street Journal, May, 2003) This is just the tip of the iceburg that made the United States labor force equal to the titanic!!!!!!

Just about every low wage business owner was probably upset by the minimum wage being voted for last cycle but then "the fed gives them more tax breaks and cuts to more than equal it out." ( Business Weekly, Dec, 06) This is a pro business, pro Wal- Mart Model publication and they even shook their collective head at the outrage with the worker by Business owners that got covered quickly by breaks and cuts.

The saying now is everyone now eventually ends up at Wal-Mart, that statement alone should send a chill down the back of every one who says they are a patriot. They have the largest single company trade imbalance, they force our jobs to disappear to china to exploit cheap labor and then run a PR campaign to say how labor friendly and community friendly they are as the move long time workers out for younger cheaper workers as well as being caught exploiting illegal alien labor back some time ago.

I go to K-mart, locally owned stores, you name it. I run the sales at stores like pick and save, shegog's you name it anything to avoid Wal-mart. And yet as much as it sickens me my family buys there. Why the prices beat everyone elses. We know why, but we don't seem collectively to care, and that is what Wal-Mart counts on.

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:04 pm
Thank you for presenting the rest of the story.

As one who has read Jim Evans's column often enough to see where he stands, I agree that he is adamantly opposed to any legislation, or indeed anything at all that would help working men and women.

His mission, instead, is to provide employers with helpful information that they can use to prevent employees from harboring troubling misconceptions such as the notion that they deserve fair treatment in the workplace or the dangerous delusion that they have rights.

Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:30 am