[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 22, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     A DAY TO MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 4 minutes.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment to thank the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) for helping to organize today's 
morning hour. This week Americans will honor working men and women who 
help others to organize, who help people take those first difficult 
steps toward forming a union that protects their right to a livable 
wage, affordable health care, a secure retirement and a safe workplace.
  United employees are a powerful balancing force against runaway 
corporate power. United employees win better working conditions, pay 
and benefits for all workers, not just those who belong to unions.
  I have always been unapologetic about working arm in arm with 
Americans who fight for the values that make this Nation great: 
respect, fairness, security and an opportunity to give our families a 
brighter future. As we all know, today's battles are infused with these 
values.
  We have come a long way since the days when the United States did not 
know the meaning of employee rights. We have a labor movement to thank. 
Unions fought to free their members from back-breaking labor, unsafe 
conditions and from low wages. Unions fought for basic rights. Many a 
union worker gave their lives for these gains and these principles.
  My own mother worked in a sweatshop in New Haven, Connecticut, during 
the early part of this century, slaving over a sewing machine. She 
worked long days in awful conditions for only pennies a dress. No one 
should ever have to return to these days.
  But we do not need to refer to the history books to understand the 
need for unions today. Organized labor is as relevant and as important 
today as during those first organizing drives. We do not have 
sweatshops on the same scale, and there are a litany of labor laws on 
the books, but attacks still continue. Workers' rights are eaten away 
at constantly. Employees are losing leverage and their say in the 
workplace and in the larger community every day.
  Over the past 3 years, with the blessing of the Republican majority, 
the business lobby has encouraged efforts to cut enforcement of worker 
protection laws and blocked development of programs to improve worker 
health and worker safety.
  I want to talk about a victory in the movement to organize that 
happened last year in my own district, the Third District of 
Connecticut, and honor the hard-working men and women who fought for 
that victory. Last spring, 230 employees at the New Haven Omni Hotel 
won the right to openly choose their own union. This was a victory over 
the hotel's long-standing insistence on a secret ballot election. In a 
fight for the basic right to choose their own union, the employees were 
supported by elected leaders such as myself, local clergy, academics, 
students and civil rights groups.

                              {time}  1245

  These groups held hearings, they met with hotel managers, and they 
even threatened to boycott the hotel. Such support should be the rule, 
not the exception, but sadly it is not. According to a Cornell 
University study, one in four employees who are active in union 
campaigns are fired each year for exercising their right to choose a 
union. Ninety-one percent of employers, when they learn that their 
workers want to form a union, force employees to attend closed-door 
meetings, to listen to anti-union propaganda, and once they have 
organized, working men and women still have to fight for basic rights. 
At the Stratford Army Engine Plant, Yale and Sikorski employees have 
had to fight for livable wages, health care, and adequate retirement 
policies. These are not only assaults on unions, they are assaults on 
the integrity of our communities.
  Since the beginning, working men and women have fought for the values 
that make this Nation great, equality, fairness, security, and an 
opportunity to give one's family a bright future. The battle has not 
been easy, but together we will turn the tide and once again help 
improve working American's lives and set new directions for this 
country.
  I thank the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior) for inviting me to 
join this morning. It is an honor to be here every day and every day in 
the fight to uphold American basic values. The fight is worth it, 
especially on behalf of American families.

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