[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H2015-H2016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT: RESTORING FAIR ELECTIONS IN THE WORKPLACE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Employee Free 
Choice Act. It is natural to believe, as most Americans do, that since 
workplace elections have secret ballots, they are similar to the 
elections we have for municipal, State and national offices. 
Unfortunately, choosing to join a union is not like the choices we all 
make at voting booths in November.
  Americans rightly expect not to be fired or harassed for the way they 
vote. They do not expect to hear that their jobs may be shipped 
overseas or that they may lose their health care coverage.
  On the other hand, the law gives employers that oppose unions with 
illegal means a chance to do such things. Employers that want to fire 
or threaten the union-friendly worker can calculate ahead of time that 
it will only cost them a few thousand dollars in fines if they are 
caught. And wronged employees might not be reinstated for years, long 
after the union effort has run its course.
  Other tactics are legal but unfair, such as mandatory meetings for 
employees to listen to their employer's antiunion views with no similar 
opportunities for unions to respond.
  Workers are subject to intimidation so effective that many are afraid 
to vote for a union against the wishes of their employer, even in 
private, even in a secret ballot.
  One study recently conducted by the University of Illinois found that 
30 percent of employers fire prounion workers, 49 percent threaten to 
close a workplace, and 51 percent coerce employees with bribes or 
favoritism.
  These acts are not legal under the National Labor Relations Act, but 
the fines are so paltry and the legal process so slow that unscrupulous 
employers are undeterred. People are afraid to vote for a union because 
they are afraid to lose their jobs and because the law does not 
adequately protect them.
  These are not the kind of elections Americans expect at their polling 
places. The Employee Free Choice Act would bring our workplaces closer 
to the democratic ideals we do expect.
  The Employee Free Choice Act would strengthen employees' ability to 
choose. It would discourage the firing of employees by increasing fines 
and penalties during the election process. It would require mediation 
and arbitration to end delays and make sure that the first contract 
negotiations do not drag out for years.
  The Employee Free Choice Act would also replace secret ballots with a 
card check procedure in which a majority of workers, not just the 
majority of voters, sign cards authorizing a union.
  Why is it so important to ensure access to unions? Inequality is 
rising in our country. Two years ago, Alan Greenspan said, ``A free-
market society is ill-served by an economy in which the rewards are 
distributed in a way which too many of our population do not feel is 
appropriate.''
  Whether or not you believe that increasing inequality in our country 
is tied to declining union membership, one thing is clear. Union 
workers have better rates of health care coverage, better wages, and 
are five times more likely to have a pension.
  Access to health care, better wages, secure pensions, these are 
things Congress is trying to give back to the middle class in America. 
Making our economy work for everyone is a complicated, ongoing process. 
I believe the Employee Free Choice Act is one important step toward 
accomplishing that goal.
  In most American workplaces, the process of forming a union is 
contentious. Yet, though they may differ over issues like wages, health 
care and pension benefits, employers, employees, supervisors and 
company owners are all striving for the same goal: American 
competitiveness in a global economy.
  Finding a middle ground on the question of compensation, training and 
health care boosts American productivity, innovation and 
competitiveness. By giving the lion's share of the power to employers, 
we not only cheat workers, we cheat our economic future.
  As we approach 2020, our income distribution is trending toward 1920. 
Americans do not want to be left to the market-based whims of health 
savings

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accounts, privatized Social Security, or personal job retraining 
accounts. They want a government that helps individuals provide for 
themselves and their families.
  Senator Wagner wrote the National Labor Relations Act in 1934 to 
ensure that workers would have an unambiguous, unmitigated right to 
representation in the workplace. He said then that ``the denial or 
observance of this right means the difference between despotism and 
democracy.''
  Let us give Americans a fair shot at organizing again. They deserve 
protection under the law. I urge my colleagues to support the Employee 
Free Choice Act.

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