Cheap, Disposable Labor
Feb 16th, 2007 at 11:50 am by Maya
Those wacky employees - give ‘em an inch and they might take it. Only their own interests in mind. We can’t have that, now, can we? Dick’s got a private island to buy, for goodness’ sake!
Today, the House Education and Labor Committee begins markup on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which has strong bipartisan backing in Congress. The EFCA would make it easier for workers to form a union. Under the current law, “even when a majority of workers ask for union representation, their employers can force them to undergo an election process” administered by the Bush administration’s “anti-worker” National Labor Relations Board.
Roll Call reports today, “Deep-pocketed corporate lobbying groups have joined together to defeat” the EFCA. Speaking before a business lobby group this morning, Vice President Cheney announced that Bush will veto the EFCA legislation.
The current union organization system is tilted against America’s workers. Each year, over 20,000 U.S. workers are illegally fired, demoted, laid off, suspended without pay, or denied work by their employers as a result of union activity. Under the Bush administration, American workers have seen union levels — and their wages — steadily drop.
Call your rep. Tell them you expect them to stand behind EFCA and stop the backslide into 19th century labor practices.
