[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 37 (Monday, March 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

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                               speech of

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 1, 2007

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 800) to 
     amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an 
     efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist 
     labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for 
     unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Chairman, I rise today in support of a long overdue 
measure, the Employee Free Choice Act. This necessary bill gives 
America's hard workers basic rights that they have been denied for over 
70 years.
  My father was an ironworker, and a member of his local union. I saw 
firsthand the struggles employees went through in order to organize 
their workplace. I also saw how easy it was and how easy it still is to 
fire union organizers with impunity. This unlawful practice happens all 
the time, and the worst that can possibly happen to the employer is a 
slap on the wrist.
  I was also a proud member of a union. I was a teacher and a guidance 
counselor in New York City, where I became a member of the American 
Federation of Teachers. I learned the personal benefits to collective 
bargaining, and I discovered the security of having thousands of other 
brothers and sisters of the union behind me if I ever needed them.
  Unions were an integral part in making this Nation the economic 
superpower it is. And while this bill will not put laborers on an even 
footing with employers, it will help to bridge the chasm between 
workers' rights and corporate rights.
  Madam Chairman, we owe unions and their members a massive debt of 
gratitude for everything they have done for this country. We can start 
paying back that debt by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. I 
strongly support this measure, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.




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