I hope that by now you have seen the button on the left - hand side of the site that says "One Million Strong from the Employee Free Choice Act." This is a serious campaign that we all need to do our part on -- and our part is easy: we have to sign the petition, and get others to do the same.

Today, in relation to the Employee Free Choice Act, there were two different emails that came my way. The first was from the Teamsters, which sent out a notice to all of its members about the petition and the campaign. The second was from the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which announced that it was running a new video to educate working people about the legislation.  Both the mailing from the Teamsters and the press release from CDW is below.

Please take a moment to read through some of this stuff, click over to sign the petition and pass it on to everyone you know.

 

---From the Teamsters --- 

You are One in a Million

Join the Teamsters in the fight to restore the American Dream for every American worker.

The surest way to accomplish that mission is to bring back the force that created the American middle class--good union jobs that protect workers.
That's why we need the Employee Free Choice Act--critical legislation that would give more workers a way to form unions and negotiate for better wages, health care, and working conditions.

Sign the petition to show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act 

The Teamsters, in partnership with Change to Win, are teaming up with hundreds of unions and progressive groups to launch a massive campaign: One Million Strong for the Employee Free Choice Act.

In 2009, we will have a new President and a new Congress. Our goal is to show them that there are one million people across the country who want to give hardworking families a chance to get ahead.

Why is the Employee Free Choice Act so important? Record numbers of workers feel that the American Dream has slipped out of reach.

Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by. The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to join together in unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits--and an opportunity to pursue their American Dream.

Big Business knows what the Employee Free Choice Act would mean. That's why they are fighting against it with everything they've got. They're pulling out all the stops to protect the status quo--a rigged system which allows employers to intimidate, harass, and even fire workers who try to form a union. We're not talking about isolated incidents: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives, according to a report by the Center for Urban Economic Development.

It's time our economy worked for everyone again. It's time for Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Sign your name to the petition and add your voice to this growing movement.

Help us meet our goal of one million signatures!
Sign the petition to show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act 

Together, we can win a chance for every American worker to reach their own American Dream.

-- 

Ad Designed to Educate Minnesotans on Candidates' Positions on Private Ballots

WASHINGTON, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing public education campaign, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) today launched a new television ad that identifies the positions of Minnesota U.S. Senate candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken on workplace privacy and the mis-named Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), legislation introduced in Congress that threatens a worker's right to vote for a union by private ballot.

The ad, developed by nationally known media strategist Mike Murphy, is the second spot in the series that uses a widely recognized character who will be easily identifiable to viewers and will use humor to reinforce the need to protect private ballots for workers. The script of the ad is attached.

Union special interests have made support for the EFCA, or "card check" bill, a top priority this year and are pressuring candidates to pledge their support. Under the EFCA, workers would lose their right to a private ballot when deciding whether to join a union. The private ballot would be replaced with a "card-check" scheme where a union is organized if a majority of workers simply sign a card; the workers' signatures are made public to their employer, the union organizers and their co-workers. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year but was blocked in the Senate in June 2007. The labor union lobby has promised to reintroduce the legislation next year.

"Minnesotans need to know that workers could effectively lose their right to cast a private ballot in a union election. The next U.S. Senate will have to make a decision about the anti-worker Employee Free Choice Act," said Brian Worth with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. "We will continue to provide information to Minnesotans about where the candidates stand on this issue, which affects all workers," added Worth.

In addition to informing all Minnesotans, the ad will ask candidates to support the right to private ballots. Candidates in Minnesota do not need to give in to union pressure. Recent polling in Minnesota conducted by CDW found that voters in Minnesota would be less likely to vote for a candidate for U.S. Senate who supports legislation to replace a federally supervised secret and private ballot system with a card check shortcut. A plurality of voters would be less likely to vote for Al Franken (41%) if he supports this legislation. Clearly, supporting legislation to replace secret ballots with a card check system will have negative consequences for potential Senate candidates.

Both candidates for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota have stated positions on maintaining private ballots in the workplace and the EFCA. Al Franken is opposed to allowing workers the right to cast their vote in private when deciding whether or not to join a union. Norm Coleman wants to keep private ballots in the workplace and voted against the EFCA.

The findings also indicate widespread opposition to organized labor's card-check scheme. Nearly two thirds of voters in Minnesota (65%) oppose the EFCA. Conversely, 82% of Minnesota voters believe that secret ballot elections are the cornerstone of democracy and should be kept for union elections.

The ad encouraging Al Franken to change his position on EFCA will begin airing on July 7, 2008 in the Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester markets. The ad can be viewed and more information about the candidates' positions and CDW's polling can be found on the Minnesota microsite at www.MyPrivateBallot.com.

CDW is a broad-based coalition which has been actively working this important issue since early 2007. The coalition began its voter education campaign in the Spring with a series of national cable TV buys following a media campaign in states and Congressional districts last year, urging members of Congress to support private ballots for workers and oppose the EFCA.