In response to New York Times reports that Senate Democrats were dropping the "majority sign-up" provision of the Employee Free Choice Act, over 17,000 people signed petitions for Congress showing their support of the provision. The petitions will be hand-delivered to Congressional offices next week by SEIU members.

Just yesterday I wrote that about 10,000 people had signed our petition, and asked for your help to reach 15,000. Not only did you meet the goal ahead of schedule, you blew right past it. Our current count shows 17,701 people have signed our petition! Thanks so much for your support.

Don't worry if you haven't signed yet - you can add your name here.

SEIU International President Andy Stern had this to say about the news:

"Reports of the death of majority sign-up, to paraphrase Mark Twain, have been greatly exaggerated. SEIU and the thousands of people who have already taken action know that majority sign-up is still, bar none, the fairest way for workers to negotiate for better job security and wages, given the intensity of employer harassment and intimidation.

"We desperately need legislation to level the playing field for working people against record-setting corporate greed and intimidation, at a time when millions are losing jobs, benefits and retirement security."

Stern wrote activists on Tuesday, asking them to sign the petitions and noting,

Majority signup is based on a simple idea: if a majority of workers say they want a union, they should get a union. It's the best way to make sure workers have a free and fair choice to join a union without intimidation or harassment.

It's important that both the House and Senate consider majority signup. Working people want to see where Congress stands on this common-sense idea to level the playing field against corporate greed.

The petition can be found at http://action.seiu.org/page/s/majoritysignup.