FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 06, 2006  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Workers should have the right to request union representation without being subjected to intimidation or lengthy battles, according to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and labor leaders.  Iowa Governor and DLC Chair Tom Vilsack, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard today joined DLC Founder and CEO Al From to announce the DLC's support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The Act, which was reintroduced to Congress last year, seeks to strengthen worker protection by requiring that employers recognize unions when the majority of workers request representation, as well as provide mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes.  The act also authorizes stronger penalties for violations when workers are prevented from forming unions. The announcement is a result of an on-going dialogue between the DLC and top labor organizations.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said: “The DLC has come together today with the nation’s top labor leaders to speak with one voice guarding a worker’s right to choose to join a union without fear or intimidation.  We believe that worker protection is a concern to all Americans and will work together to ensure the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.  I am pleased we have found common ground on this very important issue and look forward to a productive and on-going dialogue between organizations.”

DLC Founder and CEO Al From said: “The DLC is committed to growing the economy and ensuring that everyone who contributes to that growth is able to share in its benefits.  One way to do that is to make certain that workers who want to unionize have the right to do so in a fair and swift manner. That is why we support the enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act.”

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said: “This historic agreement between labor and the DLC to work together to pass the Employee Free Choice Act reflects a growing consensus that stronger unions are not only good for unionized workers, but for working families and the economy as a whole. The law that is supposed to guarantee a worker’s right to form a union and bargain collectively is broken and all Americans workers are suffering as a result.

Change to Win Chair Anna Burger said: "One of our great challenges is to turn the low-paying, no-benefit jobs of today into the middle class jobs of tomorrow. But the deck is stacked against the middle class – because it’s stacked against unions. We need the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can exercise their fundamental right to join a union by signing a membership card the same way they join a church, join a political party or register to vote.”

AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said: “The Employee Free Choice Act is about ensuring that workers have the freedom to decide for themselves whether they want to unionize, without risking a pink slip for doing so. Joining a union should not be hazardous to your job health. Today, the entire Democratic Party stands united in its determination to rebuild the middle class after six years of battering by the Bush wrecking ball. Unions built the American middle class, and we intend to save it from the current right-wing onslaught on basic workplace rights.”

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About Change to Win
Change to Win is a six million member partnership of seven unions founded in 2005 to represent workers in the industries and occupations of the 21st century economy. Change to Win committed to restoring the American Dream for a new generation of workers – wages that can support a family, affordable health care, a secure retirement, and the opportunity for the future. The seven affiliated unions are: Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Laborers' International Union of North America, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and United Farm Workers of America.