9:47 AM Eastern - Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Thousands of Workers to Deliver 1.5 Million Petitions to Congress Supporting Employee Free Choice

EmployeeFreeChoiceDenverrally.jpgUpdate: This event is taking place today, February 4th, at 12:30.

Over the past year, organizations and supporters of the freedom to form unions have carried out a national campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Today, thousands of workers from across the country will gather on Capitol Hill to deliver 1.5 million signatures in support of the pending legislation to members of Congress. Activists from the nation's unions and other progressive organizations will join workers in the rally to showcase the broad public support for the bill.

Workers from across the nation will tell their personal stories about what's wrong with our current system and why the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary to help fix it. One of the workers who will speak at the rally is Theo Jackson , who worked as a case manager at a substance abuse recovery center in Scotts Valley, CA for more than three years before being fired for trying to form a union with SEIU. Theo is just one of the thousands of ordinary workers who are harassed, threatened or terminated each year for trying to exercise their basic freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life. (Read Theo's story here)

Speakers at the event include two of the bill's key leaders, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative George Miller (CA-7), as well as United Steelworkers' International President Leo Gerard, who will emcee the event. Sierra Club President Allison Chin will also join workers and activists at the kick-off event, as well as officers from a number of unions and federations.

After the rally, members of Congress will get to see the real people whose lives are affected and the millions of signed cards representing a grassroots movement for the Employee Free Choice Act up close and personal--workers will personally deliver the signatures to their members of Congress to encourage them to support the bill on behalf of working families in their state.

The event will take place at 12:30 PM at Upper Senate Park (Constitution Ave. and Delaware Ave. NE) and will be followed by an ongoing series of events in cities and towns across the country to highlight the groundswell of support for the Employee Free Choice Act as a key piece of creating an economy that works for everyone again.



To add your name to the petition to support Employee Free Choice Act, click here.

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