Following the announcement last month from over a dozen national women's organizations in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, women across the country are standing up for the legislation.
Today, Linda Meric, the executive director of 9 to 5, the National Association of Working Women, tells the Denver Post why low-wage women in particular should support the Employee Free Choice Act.
And in Maine, three female workers--a telephone repair technician, a technologies worker, and an electrician-- talk about the benefits they get from being in a union, noting that many who would like to join aren't so lucky:
We were lucky enough to come into jobs that were already union. Millions of workers who would like to form a union and have the same rights and benefits we do are currently denied a fair opportunity by our broken, company-dominated labor law system. When private sector workers try to organize, they regularly face intimidation, harassment and an outdated set of rules that do not protect their right to organize. We want to see our labor laws updated so that workers can freely and fairly form their own organization and their rights are protected.
A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research demonstrated the clear cut union advantage for women.
- Unionization raises the probability of a woman having a pension (24.7 percent) and having employer-provided health insurance (19 percent)
- Joining a union raises the amount women workers earn by 11.2 percent more than their non-union peers.
- Among women workers in the 15 lowest-paying occupations, the benefits are even greater, with female union members earning 14 percent more than those workers who were not in unions.
A letter from 14 women's organizations in support of Employee Free Choice was sent last month to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. For a listing of of the organizations involved, click here.
