|
You have a right to join a Union. But odds are you'll have
to fight to keep this right as the following article shows.
The threat to your right to organize
The struggles working people face are not exceptions to the
rule—when a majority of workers say they want a union,
employers routinely threaten their right to make their own
free choice with a campaign of coercion, harassment and
firings.
Ninety-one percent of employers, when faced with
employees who want to join together in a union, force
employees to attend closed-door meetings to hear
anti-union propaganda; 80 percent require immediate
supervisors to attend training sessions on how to attack
unions; and 79 percent have supervisors deliver anti-union
messages to workers they oversee.
Eighty percent hire outside consultants to run
anti-union campaigns, often based on mass psychology and
distorting the law.
Half of employers threaten to shut down if employees
join together in a union.
In 31 percent of organizing campaigns, employers
illegally fire workers just because they want to form a
union.
Even after workers go through all this and win a
National Labor Relations Board election to form a union,
one-third of the time their employer never negotiates a
contract with them.
Others have done it
Employer attacks on the freedom of workers to
join a union can be stopped. Here are a few
examples of how workers, joining together with
their communities, lessened or halted employer
attacks and ensured their decision to join a union
was respected.
In Los Angeles County, 75,000 home health
care workers won support for their freedom to
join SEIU from patients, public officials and
community leaders.
In Connecticut, 6,000 nursing home workers
won better pay and working conditions and
strengthened the freedom to join SEIU 1199 by
joining with patients, state officials and a
broad group of community leaders.
When Feicheimer Inc. shut down its unionized
Cincinnati plant, moved to San Antonio and
tried to block workers' efforts there to form
a union with UNITE, union members across the
country challenged the company CEO to debate
the issue. "We reached out to new people
who had not been involved," said Phil
McLewin of the Bergen County, N.J., Central
Labor Council, one of several who took up the
fight. After several debates, the CEO agreed
not to block the freedom of his employees to
join a union and negotiated a contract.
In Seattle, drivers for Shuttle Express won
clergy support that helped convince their
company to agree to a balanced process for
employees to decide if they wanted a union by
having a community election supervised by the
Washington Association of Churches. Workers
voted for the Communications Workers of
America.
In Maryland, employees of Townsend Foods won
a union contract after community rallies and
support from public officials put pressure on
the poultry company to respect the employees'
decision to join the United Food and
Commercial Workers.
In Portland, Ore., employees of the
well-known Powell's City of Books won support
from customers and community groups that used
the Internet to tell the company it should
respect their freedom to join a union.
Employees won their campaign with the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
What you can do
Contact your local labor council to find out about activities in your area to
support workers struggling to gain a voice at work.
Involve your community group, congregation, family and
neighbors in supporting workers who are trying to join together
in a union to improve their lives.
Urge local officials to help. Remind them that the higher
standard of living these workers are struggling for can raise
living standards for the greater community.
Let local employers know if you object to their treatment of
workers. Tell them workers should have the right to make their
own decisions about whether to join together in a
union—without harassment or intimidation.
For more information and ideas about how you can get involved,
contact us!
|
Say