U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced on March 10 that they are introducing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) in the Senate and the House.

EFCA was designed to level the playing field between the some 42 million workers who want to join unions and their employers who, under the current system, have the upper hand. 

Each year, employers use their advantage to illegally fire or discriminate against more than 20,000 workers for attempting to organize. The EFCA would allow workers to stand up to unscrupulous employers and union-busting consulting firms that strip workers of those basic rights. 

The EFCA does three things to strengthen the rights of employees to organize at their workplace: 

• Establishes majority sign-up, meaning that if a majority of the employees sign union authorization cards, validated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a company must recognize the union;
• Strengthens penalties for companies that illegally coerce or intimidate employees in an effort to prevent them from forming a union;
• Brings in a neutral third party to settle a contract when a company and a newly certified union cannot agree on a contract after three months;

If enacted, the EFCA would help more workers earn family wages and decent benefits, including affordable health care and retirement. It would restore the basic right of workers to organize freely, and in doing so, allow more working families to achieve the American dream.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Teamsters across the country are calling into their Senator's office urging them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.  It is crucial that you join other Teamsters and call your Senator to tell them to co-sponsor EFCA in order to ensure a decent standard of living for America's workers. 

Please call 202-224-4524 and talk to Benjamin L. Cardin (MD-D) and Barbara Mikulski (MD-D). Or in Virginia Call: 202-224-2023 for Mark R Warner (VA-D) and 202-224-2023 for Jim Webb (VA-D)