Every time workers try to exercise their freedom to form a union, there’s a better than one-in-four chance that a worker will be illegally fired as a result. That’s the finding of a new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), and it’s a strong argument for passing the Employee Free Choice Act and restoring the freedom to form unions and bargain.
As part of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, which is meeting in Miami this week, one of the study’s authors, economist John Schmitt, is holding a conference call to discuss the findings in the report and the critical need for labor laws that protect workers. Schmitt is being joined by workers who have been fired for trying to form a union.
In a strong statement delivered via video last night, Obama thanked the AFL-CIO for advocating on behalf of working people and included the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act among his priorities.
I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, and to my administration, labor unions are a big part of the solution. We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests—because we cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement.
The CEPR report, “Dropping the Ax,” makes a strong case for a new law to protect workers’ freedom to form unions. Written by Schmitt and economist Ben Zipperer of CEPR, the report details the growth of illegal termination as a common strategy by companies trying to stop their workers from forming unions and reveals a deeply broken system that fails to protect the fundamental freedom of workers to choose a union and bargain for a better life. Workers shouldn’t fear being fired for the simple act of trying to form a union—but our flawed labor laws mean that it happens routinely.
The report documents that in more than a quarter of union campaigns since 2001, workers faced illegal firing. By 2007, nearly 30 percent of union organizing campaigns resulted in at least one illegal firing. This has had a strongly negative effect on the ability of any worker to exercise the freedom to form a union. Schmitt and Zipperer conclude that increased management interference has been a driving factor in undermining the freedom of workers to join a union.
…an important part of the decline in private-sector unionization rates…is that aggressive—even illegal—employer behavior has undermined the ability of workers to create unions at their work places.
The penalties for this illegal behavior, Schmitt and Zipperer find, are so small as to make firing a worker a cost-effective anti-union strategy for management.
In a statement, the AFL-CIO Executive Council reaffirmed its commitment to the quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Our collective efforts to build support for the Employee Free Choice Act have brought us closer than we have been in a generation to ensuring the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain collectively for a better life.
The next few weeks are critical, as we fight to realize our long-held goal and the dreams of a better life for millions of working families.
We share with our new president, the congressional majority and America’s workers the essential goal of building an economy that works for all.
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Tags: AFL-CIO Executive Council, CEPR, Economy, EFCA, Employee Free Choice Act, jobs, labor, union, union blogs, unions
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