Statement of Edgar Romney, Secretary-Treasurer, Change to Win, on the Employee Free Choice Act

February 6, 2007

The American Dream is at risk for a whole generation of American workers.

According to a recent poll conducted for Change to Win, almost 80% of American workers believe the next generation will be no better off than the current generation. Fully half think the next generation will be worse off.

Stagnant wages, rising healthcare costs and an inability to save enough for retirement are eroding the middle class and threatening the American Dream.

Despite these challenges, workers in America still have hope for change, and they see unions as an important part of the solution. In the same survey of working Americans, nearly 70% of workers believe that if more working people joined together into unions things could be better.

That's because unions make it possible for average working families to achieve the American Dream:

  • Wages of union members are 30% higher, on average, than those of nonunion workers. Add in benefits and union workers total compensation is 45% higher.
  • Eight out of ten union workers have job-related health coverage; only half of non-union workers do.
  • Union workers are four times more likely than nonunion workers to have a guaranteed pension from their employer.

The freedom to join a union is an essential pillar of the American Dream, along with a paycheck that supports a family, affordable health care, and a secure retirement.

Yet the very freedom that puts the American Dream in reach for millions of Americans cannot be taken for granted.

Every 23 minutes, a worker is fired, intimidated, coerced or retaliated against simply for supporting a union. In some cases, companies delay recognition when a majority of workers vote for a union and drag out contract negotiations for months or even years.

The workers' stories you are hearing today are just a few examples that depict a broken system in urgent need of reform.

It is clear workplace elections are not free or fair. That is why the Employee Free Choice Act is so critical. It would let a majority of workers - not corporations - choose whether or not to join a union. Majority rules - that's the American way.