American Rights at Work

Sen. Al Franken's First Official Act

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:39:06 +0100

"As of about half an hour ago, I became the co-sponsor of my first piece of legislation in the Senate. And it's something called the Employee Free Choice Act."

That's what Al Franken said just hours after being sworn in as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota! To thank him for his support, we're putting together a huge welcome card.

Senator Franken has already taken a strong stand for workers. But he's up against some serious opposition, so he needs our support and encouragement. As our economy continues to slide, an army of Big Business lobbyists continues to fight relentlessly against workers having a fair shake. Take a moment to welcome Senator Franken — thank him for being a leader on this issue and remind him how important it is that he keep fighting.

� Add your name to our welcome card for Senator Al Franken! �

The NLRB: Policing Repeat Offenders with a Water Pistol

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:42:37 +0100

As a mother I’ve learned that regardless of his repeated assurances, my toddler will only stop harassing his little brother when there are real consequences to his misbehavior (i.e., no more train video). Yet when the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charged Consolidated Biscuit with illegally harassing its union supporters–despite the company’s pledge to stop in two previous settlements—the agency didn’t provide any real consequences.

Rather than pursuing an injunction and contempt-of-court charges against the company to prevent further violations, they decided to negotiate yet another settlement. This milquetoast response to a habitual unionbuster illustrates why we need the Employee Free Choice Act, which would increase penalties for unlawful employers, and require the use of injunctions to curb employers’ bad behavior when there’s reasonable cause to believe that someone’s rights have been violated.

American Rights at Work Statement on the Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

WASHINGTON, DC—�Acting Executive Director Kimberly Freeman released the following statement:

"Today’s Minnesota Supreme Court ruling marks a victory for Minnesotans and workers across the country. Their votes have finally been counted and affirmed, and now Minnesotans are one step closer to having their voices fully represented in Congress.

Working families should be encouraged by the addition of Sen.-elect Franken to the growing pro-worker majority in the Senate. Yet the road ahead for issues of utmost concern to middle-class and working families is not an easy one.

Big Business will continue to be relentless in their attempt to block any change to a system that favors them. We must not back down in reminding our leaders that working families are counting on them to pass legislation such as the Employee Free Choice Act to create more opportunities in these tough economic times.

Now is the time to create real change and pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can bargain, not borrow, their way back into the middle class.

We urge Gov. Tim Pawlenty to sign the election certificate so Sen.-elect Franken can get to work."

Employee Free Choice Act Resources

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

What's New

� Union Contract Arbitration in the U.S. and Canada: How Arbitration Encourages Contract Settlement (PDF)
� Corporations Frequently and Effectively Use Mediation in Collective Bargaining (PDF)
� The Case for Arbitration in Labor Law Reform (PDF)

Sample Packet

� The Employee Free Choice Act: Creating An Economy that Works for Everyone �
� No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing (PDF)
� Why Workers Want Majority Sign-up (PDF)
� The Inadequate Costs of Labor Law Violations (PDF)
� The Case for Arbitration in Labor Law Reform (PDF)

About the Bill

� The Employee Free Choice Act: Creating An Economy that Works for Everyone �
� The Facts Behind the Employee Free Choice Act (Full, Abbrev.)
� The Employee Free Choice Act: Solutions to a Failed Labor Law (PDF)

More Resources:
Why Workers Need the Employee Free Choice Act (PDF)
Bill Summary
Bill Text

Majority Sign-up

Also known as card check; the alternative to NLRB elections.

� Why Workers Want Majority Sign-up (PDF)
� Secret Ballots Aren’t Enough (PDF)
� Half a Million and Counting (PDF)
� Fact Over Fiction: Opposition to Card Check Doesn't Add Up (PDF)

More Resources:
Majority Authorizations and Union Organizing in the Public Sector: A Four-State Perspective (PDF)
2009: A Study of Illinois’ Majority Interest Petition Provision (PDF)
Majority Sign-up Q&A
Free & Fair? How Labor Law Fails U.S. Democratic Election Standards
Neither Free Nor Fair: The Subversion of Democracy Under NLRB Elections

Enforcement & Penalties

� The Inadequate Costs of Labor Law Violations (PDF)
� Out of Control: Employer Misconduct During Union Organizing Far Too Common (PDF)
� No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing (Kate Bronfenbrenner)

More Resources:
Why Stronger Penalties Are Needed
Legal But Wrong
Dropping the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns, 1951-2007 � (CEPR)
Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns
Uneasy Terrain: The Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages, and Union Organizing (Kate Bronfenbrenner)

Arbitration & Injunctive Relief

More Resources:
Why Mediation & Arbitration Rules Are Needed
The Chilling Effect: Fire One Worker, Send a Powerful Message to the Rest
NLRB's Fired Workers Only Tip of the Iceberg

Economic Impact & Business Support

The Employee Free Choice Act: Ensuring the Economy Works for Everyone Again (PDF)
Prominent Economists' Statement of Support for the Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act: Good for Small Business (PDF)
Business Scholars for the Employee Free Choice Act

Advertisements & Multimedia

TV Ad: The Right Thing
TV Ad: GREED
TV Ad: The Fabric of America
TV & Print Ad: The Real Secret
TV Ads: Hope & Change, We Don't Ask
TV Ad: The Boardroom
TV Ad: See Saw

Print Ad: Workers Denied Contracts by Their Employers (PDF)
Print Ad: Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration (PDF)
Print Ad: Big Business Favors Arbitration (PDF)
Print Ad: An Economic Stimulus Package for America's Working Families (PDF)
Print Ad: Protecting Workers' Freedom to Bargain for Better Wage and Benefits (PDF)
Print Ad: Change America's Working Families Can Believe In (PDF)
Print Ad & Billboards: America's Middle Class Is Falling Apart (PDF)

Online Ad: Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration

Video: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford and Richard Schiff on the Employee Free Choice Act
Video: Your New Job

Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act

Exposing the Opposition: The Facts on the Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act (PDF)
Lies & Distortion on the Secret Ballot (PDF)

The Anti-Union Network:
Center for Union Facts and the Employee Freedom Action Committee
U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace

Union Advantage: The Economic Case for Unions

Unions Making a Difference
How Unions Help All Workers (EPI)
Unions and Upward Mobility for Service-Sector Workers (CEPR)
Unions and Upward Mobility for Women Workers (CEPR)
Unions and Upward Mobility for Young Workers (CEPR)
Unions and Upward Mobility for Latino Workers (CEPR)
Unions and Upward Mobility for African-American Workers (CEPR)
The Union Wage Advantage for Low-Wage Workers (CEPR)

The Benefits of Unions in Arkansas (CEPR) (PDF )
The Benefits of Unions in Colorado (CEPR) (PDF )
The Benefits of Unions in Louisiana (CEPR) (PDF )
The Benefits of Unions in North Dakota (CEPR) (PDF)
The Benefits of Unions in Ohio (CEPR) (PDF)
The Benefits of Unions in Pennsylvania (CEPR) (PDF)�

Polling

Public Opinion Regarding The Employee Free Choice Act, National Survey Results (1/8/09) (PDF)
Results From A Survey Among Voters in Senate Battleground States (11/5/08) (PDF)
The American Dream and the 2008 Election (11/6/08) (PDF)

What's in your Chipotle burrito?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:04:17 +0100

"Food with integrity."� That's what Chipotle – America's fastest-growing fast-food restaurant – vows to serve in its restaurants. Tell that to the Florida farmworkers who pick many of Chipotle's tomatoes. They have one of the worst jobs in America, with sub-poverty wages, back-breaking labor, and unimaginable exploitation.�

In spite of its "food with integrity" pledge condemning the "exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment," Chipotle refuses to partner with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which represents farmworkers, to help improve their working conditions. In the past, American Rights at Work activists like you helped put pressure on big companies, convincing them to commit to a raise for Florida farmworkers: an extra penny per pound of picked tomatoes.� Chipotle has also agreed to pay an extra penny per pound.

Now, with your help, we can achieve an even greater victory: a huge chain pushing for real justice for these workers.� As major buyers, companies like Chipotle have a responsibility to exert their influence and give a fair deal to the workers who help boost their bottom lines.

� Click here to urge Chipotle's CEO Steve Ells take a stand for Florida farmworkers.�

Union Contract Arbitration in the U.S. and Canada: How Arbitration Encourages Contract Settlement

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:43:31 +0100

Even when workers overcome harassment and intimidation by their companies to successfully form a union, too many are denied a first contract. A key provision of the Employee Free Choice Act will give both workers and companies the right to request an independent arbitrator if they can’t settle a contract, helping stop unfair delay tactics used by corporations to ensure negotiations are completed in a fair and efficient manner.

Big Business opponents of the bill misleadingly paint the arbitration provision as a job killer, claiming arbitrators would impose terms on companies that would cause them to go out of business. However, evidence from Canada and the U.S. public sector, where arbitration laws have long been in place, tell a different story. In fact, new research demonstrates that when arbitration is an option it is rarely used, and when contracts are reached through arbitration, the wage increases that result are nearly identical to those reached through voluntary collective bargaining.

Few Public Sector Contracts Reach Arbitration Stage in U.S.

In half of the states and the District of Columbia, public sector employees already have the right to resolve collective bargaining conflicts through an independent, third-party arbitration process. Thirty years of evidence from these laws shows that it’s the possibility of arbitration, not the actual procedure, which encourages parties to settle. As MIT economist Thomas Kochan and Harvard Law professor Arnold Zack note, where arbitration is an option, 90% of contracts are settled voluntarily.¹� On the rare occasions when an arbitrator imposes a contract on a public employer, numerous studies have shown that the wage increases are similar to those won through voluntary settlements.²�

Arbitration Widely Available Yet Rarely Used in Canada

First contract arbitration is available in eight of the 11 Canadian jurisdictions, and covers more than 80% of the workforce.³� New research by American Rights at Work reveals that arbitration provisions in Canada, which have been in place for decades, are very rarely used and result in wage increases that are nearly identical to those reached through voluntary collective bargaining.��

In Ontario, there were 1,484 union contracts negotiated in the private sector between January 2000 and April 2009.� Of these, 24 (1.62%) were settled through the arbitration process.� Although 82 requests for arbitration were filed, the vast majority of contracts were reached voluntarily.⁵

Though corporate special interests insist that businesses can’t survive under such a law, many international companies have successful operations and bargain collectively with their unions in Ontario, including: Ford, Hershey, Boeing, General Electric, and Safeway, among others. Also some major companies, such as Greyhound and Aramark, have been through the arbitration process under Ontario’s labor law.

In fact, in Ontario’s private sector, the median annual wage increase is 3% for arbitrated contracts and 2.7% for voluntary contracts. These similar wage increases demonstrate that the arbitration process is fair and neutral.

In Saskatchewan, approximately 400 union contracts were negotiated in the public and private sector since 2000. Although there were 49 applications for arbitration since 2000, not a single case escalated to needing an arbitrator resolve the contract dispute.

In Quebec, 8,225 union contracts were negotiated in the public and private sector since 2000. Of these, only 124 (1.5%) were settled through the arbitration process—the vast majority were reached voluntarily. The arbitration process was used by major international companies like Wal-Mart, Staples, and Laidlaw.

U.S. and Canadian labor law adequately demonstrates that arbitration is a fair and necessary incentive to help workers and companies resolve contract disputes. Yet, because most workers in the U.S. don’t have a right to arbitration, over half of workers are denied a contract by their employers a year after forming a union.⁶� It’s time to level the playing field through the Employee Free Choice Act so we can have the economy work for everyone again.�

� Download this fact sheet as a PDF.

�

1. Thomas Kochan and Arnold Zack, “Negotiations, Mediation Key to First Contract Arbitration,” Roll Call, 15 June 2009.

2. Orley Ashenfelter, James Dow, Daniel Gallagher, and Dean Hyslop, “Arbitrator and Negotiator Behavior under an Appellate System,” Unpublished manuscript, Aug. 1997, cited in Ashenfelter, 2001; John Thomas Delaney, “Strikes, Arbitration, and Teacher Salaries: A Behavioral Analysis,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 36, No. 3: 431-46 (1983); Robert E. Doherty, “Trends in Strikes and Interest Arbitration in the Public Sector,” Labor Law Journal, Aug. 1986; Peter Feuille, John Thomas Delaney, and Wallace Hendricks, “The impact of interest arbitration and police contracts,” Industrial Relations, 24: 161-181 (1985); Peter Feuille and John Thomas Delaney, “Collective bargaining, interest arbitration, and police salaries,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 39:228-240 (1986).

3. Susan Johnson, “First Contract Arbitration: Effects on Bargaining and Work Stoppages,” Paper presented at the Labor and Employment Relations Association, Jan. 2008. Available at Laurier Center for Research and Policy

4. Data provided to American Rights at Work from the following provincial offices: Quebec Minist�re du Travail, Ontario Ministry of Labor’s Office of Collective Bargaining Information Services, and Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board. Analysis by Keisha Williams of University of Maryland School of Law and Erin Johansson of American Rights at Work, June 2009. Further data on Canadian arbitration forthcoming.

5. In Ontario’s private sector, arbitration is a voluntary union right (The Labor Relations Act of 1995). In the public sector however, it varies. Hospital workers, emergency response technicians, police officers, and firefighters do not have the right to strike and thus, have compulsory arbitration where they must settle immediately or go through arbitration (Crown Employee’s and Emergency Services Act). Residential construction workers have a six week window to strike and after that period, they must voluntarily negotiate a contract or they must arbitrate as well.

6. Kate Bronfenbrenner, “No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing,” American Rights at Work and Economic Policy Institute, May 2009.
�

Print Ad: Workers Denied Contracts by Their Employers

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The latest ad in our series makes the case for arbitration as a critical part of the Employee Free Choice Act. One full year after workers form unions, over half are still denied a contract by their employers. And two years later, 37% of workers still have no contract.

As our ad points out, arbitration will put a stop to unfair delay tactics used by Big Business and ensure negotiations will be completed in a fair an efficient manner.

� View our arbitration newspaper and online ad series.
� Arbitration fact sheet

Online Ad: Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

This online ad is part of a series of newspaper and online ads on arbitration, which is a critical part of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Roll over the ad with your mouse to see the CEO -- representing Big Business -- contradict himself.

Then, click on the ad or the links below to learn more about how many large companies are happy to support arbitration... but only when it�s in their best interest!

� View our arbitration newspaper and online ad series.
� Arbitration fact sheet

Print Ad: Big Business' Two-Faced Approach to Arbitration

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Arbitration is a key part of the Employee Free Choice Act that will let employers and workers who have formed a union reach a first contract in a reasonable period of time.� Our latest arbitration newspaper ad - the second in a series - points out the hypocrisy of Big Business on arbitration. Many large companies are happy to support arbitration when it’s in their best interest. But when it comes to negotiating contracts with their workers, those same companies would rather use delay tactics to avoid paying better wages and benefits.

� View our arbitration newspaper ad series.
� Arbitration fact sheet

Corporations Frequently and Effectively Use Mediation in Collective Bargaining

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Third-party mediators have long played a role in private sector collective bargaining negotiations, helping employers and employees come to agreements and avoid drawn-out, costly disputes. The mediators at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) would oversee the mediation process outlined in the Employee Free Choice Act, just as they do now when corporations and unions seek a neutral party to help them come to agreement on a fair contract.

Neutral, Third-Party Mediators Commonly Negotiate Union Contracts in the Private Sector

Congress created the FMCS as part of the 1947 Labor-Management Relations Act, and for the past 60 years the agency’s mediators have served as “third party neutrals to facilitate the settlement of issues in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements.”¹ FMCS mediators are now involved in more than a quarter of all private sector negotiations.² Between fiscal years 2003 and 2008, the agency mediated nearly 19,000 private sector negotiations, affecting over six million employees.³�

Mediation Is a Productive, Effective Process

Despite claims from corporate special interests, mediators improve the bargaining process by clarifying where the parties differ, facilitating an understanding of the long and short term effects of the proposals, keeping the dialogue moving forward, suggesting recommendations, and establishing realistic expectations.⁴ Mediation is proven to be effective; in fiscal year 2008, 87 percent of mediated negotiations were settled.⁵

Major Corporations Use Mediation to Settle Bargaining Stalemates

From 2003-2008, a wide range of employers and their unions have engaged in mediation on a voluntary basis to settle disputes, including General Electric, Borders, Pepsi Cola, and Princeton University.⁶

� State��	Number of mediated negotiations	Number of employees affected	Examples of major employers using mediation
� AR	84	28,169	ConAgra, Cooper Tire & Rubber, Kroger, Lockheed Martin, Tyson Foods
� CA	1,801	1,502,292	Boeing, Costco, Disneyland, Pacific Maritime Association, San Francisco Chronicle, Toyota
� LA	139	25,682	Boise Cascade, Cargill, Domino Sugar, International Paper, Northrup Grumman, Shell
� ME	67	13,557	American Red Cross, Bath Iron Works, Central Maine Power, Sappi Fine Papers, Shaw’s
� NE	61	11,424	Archer Daniels Midland, Interstate Brands, Lincoln Orchestra, Lozier, Omaha Steel, Swift, Tyson Foods
� ND	45	2,423	Cass Clay Creamery, JR Simplot, Mid America Steel, Minnkota Power, Pan O’Gold Baking
� PA	1,836	285,423	Aramark, Beverly Healthcare, Coca-Cola, Merck, Superfresh, University of Pennsylvania, Verizon
� VA	157	65,436	Alliant Techsystems, Dominion Power, Goodyear, Kroger, Northrup Grumman, Smithfield, Volvo

�

Workers Deserve Access to Mediation and Arbitration

The Employee Free Choice Act levels the playing field by giving both workers and companies the right to bring in an outside mediator and then an arbitrator if they can’t settle a contract. It’s a fair and effective way for workers to reach an agreement with their employers for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.

Big Business opponents of the this critical labor law reform have levied misleading claims about the “first contract arbitration” provision arguing that it would be bad for business.� However, not only do corporations already use third-party mediators as provided for in this legislation, the business community favors arbitration in a range of business, employer, and consumer dealings.� The only reason corporate special interests are opposed to mediation and arbitration in the Employee Free Choice Act is that when it comes to negotiating contracts with their workers, they would rather use delay tactics to avoid paying better wages and benefits. The mediation and arbitration process is a fair way to ensure that all workers can have a contract, so we can have the economy work for everyone again.

� Download this fact sheet as a PDF.

1 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Sixty-First Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2008.
2 Ibid.
3 Data from Freedom of Information Act submitted to the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service by American Rights at Work, filled 2 June 2009.
4 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. “Collective Bargaining Mediation,” Aug. 2006.
5 FMCS Annual Report.
6 FOIA, 2009.
�

The Case for Arbitration in Labor Law Reform

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Labor law reform must ensure that workers who want to join a union are able to do so without facing endless delays from corporations seeking to deny them a voice in the workplace.� Companies currently use stall tactics to prevent workers from getting a contract. In fact, one year after a successful union election, 52 percent of workers’ unions still do not have a contract. Arbitration will give companies an incentive to negotiate in good faith and ensure that workers who have chosen to join a union actually get a contract. Even Big Business has agreed that arbitration is an efficient way to settle disputes. Clearly, their position is hypocritical and motivated by their desire to maintain a status quo in which corporations make millions while middle class families struggle.

Companies currently use stall tactics to prevent workers from getting a contract.� Labor law reform must ensure that workers who want to join a union are able to do so without facing endless delays and stall tactics from companies seeking to deny them a voice in the workplace.

One year after a successful union election, 52 percent of employers deny their workers a contract. According to Cornell University researcher Kate Bronfenbrenner, 52 percent of workplaces had no collective bargaining agreement one year after a successful union election. Two years after an election, 37 percent of workers’ unions still had no labor agreement.¹ �

The Employee Free Choice Act would give both workers and companies the right to request mediation from an outside source if they cannot reach a contract. This will help end the delays that workers currently face and ensure negotiations will be completed in a timely manner.

Arbitration works to encourage voluntary settlement of contract negotiations. Experience in the public sector shows that only a small minority of negotiations end up requiring an arbitration decision, in most cases fewer than 10 percent. In half of the states and the District of Columbia, public sector employees have the right to resolve collective bargaining conflicts through arbitration, and yet the vast majority of these contracts are still settled voluntarily rather than through arbitration.²

Businesses are opposed to the arbitration provision and the Employee Free Choice Act overall because they want to maintain the status quo in which CEOs make millions while workers struggle to pay their mortgages and find affordable health care for their families.

Top opponent of labor law reform admitted CEOs do not want to give up control. Former Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott said of the Employee Free Choice Act, “We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.”³

Big Business is hypocritical in its opposition to arbitration, a tool that companies routinely use to resolve disputes with consumers and workers.

Business praises arbitration as efficient and effective. In May 2008, more than a dozen business trade groups wrote a letter to Congress stating, “Arbitration is an efficient, effective, and less expensive means of resolving disputes for consumers, employers, investors, employees and franchisees, in addition to the many businesses that use the same system to resolve business disputes.” The Washington Post reported in 2006, “Over the past decade, the arbitration clause has become increasingly common in almost every consumer contract, whether it's for a credit card, telephone service, pesticide treatment or home construction…”⁴

1. Kate Bronfenbrenner, No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing, May 2009
2. American Rights at Work, “Low Rates of Arbitration Use in the Public Sector,” 2009
3. The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, 11/18/08
4. The New York Times, 10/6/08; The Washington Post, 4/17/06

Big Business Favors Arbitration

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:16:34 +0100

View the ad

Arbitration is a key part of the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s a fair and effective way for workers to reach an agreement with their employers for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.�

Big Business doesn’t like the arbitration provision in the Employee Free Choice Act, because without it, they can use unfair delay tactics to their advantage.� But as our new newspaper ad points out, this is the only case where Big Business opposes the use of arbitration.� They actually support arbitration in a whole host of cases, including consumer disputes, real estate transactions, personal injury claims, credit card disputes, banking disputes, home construction contracts, health insurance claims, and nursing home injuries.�

In other words, Big Business favors arbitration when it’s in their interest to do so, but opposes arbitration when it helps workers bargain for a contract in a reasonable period of time.

>>View the ad

New �Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act� Unveiled Over Memorial Day

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:10:37 +0100

Sen. Kent Conrad (ND) with Corey Kresse, one of the "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act."

This Memorial Day recess, unions and activists continued mobilizing to remind our leaders that working families are counting on them to make the economy work for everyone again.� Building on our powerful campaign to spotlight real workers who give a face and a voice to the Employee Free Choice Act, American Rights at Work launched new efforts in Maine and Virginia.� These are the newest “Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act:”

Cecile Martin, registered nurse, ME
E.J. Russell, factory operator, ME
Debra Moore, registered nurse, VA

Roving billboards, flyers, postcards, and banners featuring the “Faces” toured Maine, North Dakota, and Virginia.� They made it to 16 cities and 29 events, and generated high-quality press coverage and phone calls to Senators.

� See these workers and their stories
� More on recess activities from the AFL-CIO
� More on recess activities from SEIU

34%

Thu, 28 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

34%34% of employers fire workers who try to form unions.

63%

Wed, 27 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

63%63% of employers interrogate workers in mandatory one-on-one meetings with their supervisors about support for the union

54%

Wed, 27 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

54%54% of employers threaten workers in workers in mandatory one-on-one meetings with their supervisors about support for the union.