MAINE LABOR LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
March 23, 2007

An Information Service of the

Maine AFL-CIO
www.maineaflcio.org

Please Forward to Maine Working Families

NOTE- Text (in an e-mail) in blue or red is a direct web link to a full text source

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Ed Gorham, President
Maine AFL-CIO

 In Maine and across the nation working families and unions are organizing to support Senate passage in Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800). At news conferences, worker roundtables, rallies and meetings across the country, and by telephone, e-mail, fax and letters workers and union and community leaders are connecting with members of Congress—thanking those who have supported the Employee Free Choice Act which has passed the House and contacting senators to press for Senate passage.

Editorials in many American newspapers are supporting the Employee Free Choice Act; however, in Maine the Portland Press Herald opposed this much-needed legislation. In a March 12 editorial the newspaper noted that the proposed law authorizes a union when a majority of employees sign a card in support. The newspaper called this "an invitation to coercion."

This attack is typical of those who are working against the measure. Before the ink was dry on the newspaper press run, Peter Kellman  had fired off a reply which the Press Herald printed March 16. Peter (e-mail: pkellman@psouth.net ) lives in North Berwick and is president of the Southern Maine Labor Council-AFL-CIO, which represents 20 unions with a combined membership of more than 9,000.

Peter said that the act which recently passed the U.S. House with the support of Maine's two congressmen Mike Michaud and Tom Allen, "isn't about coercion. It is about workers' rights." He noted that, "Freedom of association is also assured by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, it doesn't matter what's in the Declaration of Human Rights or the U.S. Constitution, because there are no rights without organization. If we are to exercise freedom of association as workers, either the power of the government or the power of the unions must protect our rights.

"Put another way, every two years we vote for people to represent us in Congress. When we vote, we are voting to see which individuals will represent us. We do not vote to see if we want a Congress because that has long been accepted by society as a given," said Kellman.

And the New York Times on March 6 said in part in an editorial:

"The bill’s opponents charge that replacing secret ballots with the majority signup would be undemocratic. But the current system is by no means fair. The law prohibits union advocacy by employees during work hours and allows employers to ban organizers from the work place. But employers can require workers to attend anti-union presentations, and can discipline or fire those who refuse to attend.

"In 2005, according to the most recent annual report of the National Labor Relations Board, 31,358 employees were receiving back pay after being discriminated against for their union-related activities. In research for a bipartisan Congressional commission in 2000, Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor relations professor at Cornell University, reported that 25 percent of employers illegally fired at least one employee during organizing campaigns.

"Labor unions have a role to play in helping to fix today’s economic ills — most notably, worsening income inequality, a problem that’s caused in part by unions’ decline and the workers’ resulting lack of bargaining power. What’s needed is a Congressional drive to help Mr. Bush see this obvious connection.

"The Senate should take up the House bill promptly and send it to the president for his signature."

 On our web site at www.maineaflcio.org we have opened a section on the Employee Free Choice Act which (as of March 20, 2007) provides full text of the above items and the others listed below. As the battle to get this legislation through the Senate goes on we will be adding other material.  Just click on the "hot link" on the index page to read the full text of any of the items.

Both Maine congressmen Tom Andrews and Mike Michaud have not only voted for the Employee Free Choice Act but are original sponsors of the legislation. We need now to press Maine Senators Snowe and Collins to vote for this legislation which is so vital to the future of Maine working families by telephone, fax, letter or e-mail. You can visit our web site and copy/paste any information or quotes you need into your messages to our senators and in letters to the Maine media.

FREE CHOICE ACT INDEX - 2007

Portland Press Herald Editorial
Opposes Free Choice
March 12

Peter Kellman Op Ed
Reply to PPH Editorial
March 16

Editorial New York Times
March 6

Acuff on Workers Rights
AFL-CIO
March 13

EPI Briefing Paper #181
Detail Analysis of Free Choice Problem
February 22

Crockett on GOP Disinformation
American Chronicle
March 5

LA Times Article Why the Threat?
March 4