[letter-to-the-editor published in the Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2006]

To the 23,000 employees fired or discriminated against every year for trying to organize a union at their workplace, referring to the National Labor Relations Board system for worksite elections as the "crown jewel of federal labor law," ("Organizing Gambit," September 5, 2006),  is a lot like calling Enron a model of corporate responsibility.

You can't have a fair election when the employer interrogates, threatens, and fires employees who support the union. But under current law that's what often happens.  You can't have a fair election when the employer threatens to close the doors if the union wins.  But a recent study shows that employers threatened to shut down in half of the elections sampled. You can't have a fair election when the employer can force employees to sit in a closed room and listen to anti-union propaganda, but union supporters aren't allowed to make their case to colleagues on the job. But that's what the current law allows. And, you can't have a fair election when the employer can decide to ignore the results and tie up the election for years in court.

More than 86% of Americans workers believe the right to join a union without fear, retribution or intimidation from their employer is a fundamental American right. But only about half of them feel they could do so without fear of retribution from their employer.

The Employee Free Choice Act would make the right to join a union a reality by allowing workers to express their desire to join a union by simply signing up.

Anna Burger
Chair, Change to Win
Washington