Congress should empower workers

Reform labor laws so employees can form unions without interference

As we admire the latest automotive innovations at the North American International Auto Show, we should also remember the incredible history of the auto industry.

Millions of middle-class Americans have assembled and delivered General Motors, Ford and Chrysler products, providing convenience and enjoyment. Perhaps more important, the solid wages and benefits the workers earned for their families have helped them raise generations of our fellow citizens.

While the American auto industry is enduring problems, I can think of another group that was in even more disarray -- the last Congress. After being mired in corruption and blind support of the president's questionable policies, the American people voted in a new crop of representatives and senators.

Labor reform helps workers

The Democratic majorities in the House and Senate now have an extraordinary opportunity to improve the lives of working families. A major piece of legislation that empowers working families is the Employee Free Choice Act. Introduced with bipartisan support, this is the first major attempt to reform labor law since the 1970s.

The idea behind the law is simple. Most any American can join a group -- a church group, the parent teacher association at their child's school or the National Rifle Association -- by signing a card and paying dues. With the proposed reform, if a majority at a workplace wants to build a union, they sign cards and the employer recognizes their wishes. Negotiations for a labor contract begin soon after.

This is a major improvement over our current labor laws, in which the process is unnecessarily difficult for workers because employers have more ability to aggressively thwart unionization efforts. Often, after a majority indicates their interest, they endure a nasty, bruising and lawyer-dominated election, as the employer fights to block its employees' choice to form a union.

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development released a study in December 2005 that found shocking amounts of employer resistance during union organizing drives.

The researchers found that 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers; 49 percent of employers threaten to close a work site when workers try to unionize; 82 percent of employers hire union-busting consultants to fight organizing drives; and 91 percent of employers force employees to attend anti-union meetings one-on-one with supervisors.

Anti-American tactics

Not only is a process that allows such intimidation outrageous, it's anti-American. According to Jefferson Cowie, associate professor of history at Cornell University, three-quarters of Americans say employers should be neutral in union elections. More than 50 million Americans are interested in joining a union, but lack fair mechanisms to do so.

The beauty of the Employee Free Choice Act is it enables workers to build a union if they desire one. The legislation would ensure that employers respect workers and bargain fairly, providing mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorizing strong penalties for any violations of the law.

Some employers have managed to manipulate our labor laws. A good example can be traced from UPS Freight, a subsidiary of the shipping giant UPS. Before being purchased in 2005 by UPS, the company was known as Overnite Transportation Co.

By the late 1990s, 4,000 drivers at Overnite had gone through the standard election process and voted to become Teamsters. But when we sought to negotiate a contract, the company's strategy was simple -- spend millions of dollars to stall, delay, demoralize and defeat the workers' desire for union representation.

Overnite harassed, threatened and fired workers without cause. Although Overnite would become one of the largest violators of U.S. labor laws in history, it successfully manipulated those laws to achieve its ends of having no unionized employees and no contracts ensuring its workers' wages and job security.

Now under new ownership, the Teamsters reached an agreement that enables workers at UPS Freight to build their union. In August, a majority of workers at UPS Freight's facility in Indianapolis signed a majority of cards. They are negotiating their first contract.

It's a stunning reversal, and one that the Employee Free Choice Act would foster at other companies.

Good-paying jobs with affordable health care and a secure retirement are pillars of the American labor movement. These jobs should be a right, not a privilege, for all Americans. We will work tirelessly to ensure that all workers -- those involved with the auto industry and otherwise -- are the focus of the new Congress