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The Southwestern District Labor Council, AFL-CIO will be hosting its 3rd part in a series of three Town Hall Meetings. This meeting deals with the modification to the National Labor Relations Act, known as the Employee Free Choice Act.
We have assembled a panel to provide information, discuss and answer questions pertaining to this important piece of legislation. This is a public forum and in keeping with the two previous meetings we have taken the liberty to invite many of our state county and municipal leaders to attend and interact. We appreciate those who have attended the previous two Town Hall meetings.
Please forward this message to all you local unions and be there with your members to be a part of this important if not historic meeting.
Date of Event: Saturday, July 11, 2009
Place: Marshall University Student Center
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Continental Breakfast provided so get there early between 9-9:30 to meet and greet friends.
Questions please feel free to contact Tim Millne, Secretary Treasurer.
I'm proud to have worked on campaigns with members of the United Mine Workers of America. From the short conversations I've had with him and the longer speeches I've heard, I can safely say there's a whole lot more that UMWA President Cecil Roberts and I agree about that what we disagree about.
If you haven't heard Cecil Roberts lately, watch this video for a real treat.
The U.S. House and Senate are both introducing the Employee Free Choice Act yesterday, launching the legislative battle to restore workers' freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
It's a great day for working families and a sign of the change that America voted for last fall. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) are announcing the bill's launch at the U.S. Senate, along with workers whose struggles to form unions illustrate the need to give workers, not bosses, the ability to choose how to form a union, as well as a guarantee of a contract and protection from employer intimidation, coercion and firing.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says introduction of this bill is a strong message in support of working families.
Yesterday was a banner day for working Americans, a milestone on the road to rebuilding our nation's middle class-and it couldn't come at a more crucial time. We thank the House of Representatives and the Senate for introducing the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers' freedom to bargain for fair wages, job security, better health care and secure pensions. Special thanks also goes to Congressman Miller, Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Harkin for being the lead sponsors and champions for America's working families.
We are confident the Employee Free Choice Act is going to become the law of the land.
Carol Pier of Human Rights Watch, one of the dozens of organizations backing the Employee Free Choice Act, says U.S. labor laws need the kind of fair opportunity that workers around the world have.
Weak U.S. labor law effectively denies millions of workers the right to form a union and bargain collectively. Congress should bring worker protections closer to international standards by passing the Employee Free Choice Act
As we've written before, this is the single most important piece of labor legislation in decades.
In last Congress, Sens. Byrd and Rockefeller, Reps. Rahall and Mollohan all voted for West Virginia workers. Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito sided with big business.
The main action this Congress will be in the Senate where there is some suspense if the bill has 60 votes to be filibuster proof. It would not be at all surprising if this is one of the first pieces of legislation that a newly sworn in Sen. Franken of Minn. gets to vote on. :-)
Update: There's a detailed whip count at Campaign Diaries. That reminds me to send out a huge THANK YOU to Sens. Rockefeller and Byrd not only for voting for the EFCA in the past but also for continuing to be co-sponsors. Thank you!
Thank you Sen. Byrd. Thank you Sen. Rockefeller. This is just one of many issues where you have won my heart-felt gratitude. Thank you for supporting this critical piece of legislation.
Note: recent stories on labor issues are here and extensive coverage of the Employee Free Choice Act passage in the house (and Capito's misleading, hypocritical position on it) are in our archives.
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