The goal of workers seeking to form a union is to sit at the table with the employer
and bargain an agreement on their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Gaining
union representation can be a long and arduous process for workers. Even when workers
are able to form a union, the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) fails them because so many are denied the right to collectively bargain with their employer.

A recent study document that only 38% of new unions are able to negotiate a first contract within one year of NLRB certification and only 56% are able to achieve a contract after two years. That means that under the NLRA, 44% of new unions still don't have contracts two years after they are certified, and many newly-unionized workers never achieve a first contract.

We broke down what these delays mean for several states. Download the individual reports here.

• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Indiana
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Montana
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia

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Sources

1. John-Paul Ferguson, The Eyes of the Needles: A Sequential Model of Union Organizing Drives, 62 Industrial Relations Review No. 1, (Oct. 2008).

If you thought that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter's change from a Republican to a Democrat meant an automatic endorsement from labor unions for his 2010 election...think again.

In the memo SEIU President Andy Stern sent to Pennsylvania members late last week, he affirmed that we will maintain our ramped-up efforts to reach out to the Senator and let our concerns be known on the need for reform to our nation's labor laws: allowing workers, not employers, to choose how and when to form a union; enforcing real penalties for employers who break the law; and ensuring that those who've chosen a union can actually secure a contract.

From Stern:

SEIU has always been an organization that supports candidates and elected officials based on their commitment to working families, not their party labels.

The issues that face working people in Pennsylvania have not changed, and the support we need from our representatives in Congress hasn't changed, either.

We know there have been contradictory and confusing reports about what Senator Specter's decision means for the priorities of working families in our state. In a word: our fight for Employee Free Choice and quality, affordable healthcare continues, as strong as ever. (Read Stern's memo here)

After Specter's party-switch announcement last week, we asked you to write him a note telling him what you think, and what you expect of him as your senator now that he's a Democrat. SEIU's Raf Noboa has a great round-up of some of your letters to him. Here are just a few:

B.C.:

R. S.:

P. L., Allegheny County:

T.F., Allegheny County:

J. R., Erie:

As Senator Specter knows, putting Pennsylvania's families ahead of partisanship is a priority--but just in case he needed a reminder, SEIU members delivered these letters (plus hundreds more) to Specter's office this weekend, to reiterate to him why Pennsylvania's working families need his support on the Employee Free Choice Act and health care reform.

Please take a moment and write to Senator Specter today--he needs to hear from you.

On Tuesday, March 31, Hollywood "West Wing" stars Martin Sheen and Bradley Whitford descended upon the nation's Capitol to join workers, union leaders and members of Congress for the unveiling of a new ad and grassroots campaign, "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act."

The campaign features 50-foot-high banners displayed on buildings throughout Washington, DC, and billboard trucks in states across the country. A different union member is pictured on each banner, accompanied by a quote about why the Employee Free Choice Act is imperative for all workers to restore their freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.

One worker who told her story at today's star-studded event on the Hill was SEIU Local 105 member Roberta Ayala, the "face" adorning the banner splashed across SEIU's building on Massachusetts Ave. Roberta is a teacher's aide at a private organization in Denver, CO and works with teenagers with severe emotional problems, as well as non-verbal autistic children.

"I had always believed a union was the fairest way to work," says Roberta, whose father and grandfather were in unions. "I believed that if we had a union, this unfair treatment wouldn't be happening. I wanted my coworkers to be treated fairly so we could be better advocates for our students," said Roberta, detailing how she and the other employees in her school repeatedly went to management with their concerns on understaffing and increasing safety and training procedures to create a better learning environment for the kids--but were ignored. So they decided to form a union:

Eighty percent us signed cards supporting the union. But the school wouldn't recognize our decision. We filed for an election and that's when management began harassing and intimidating us. They even fired several teachers' assistants--making our staffing problems even worse.

[...] Management continued their intimidation tactics even after we won our election. The facility experienced a 70 percent turnover in staff because of the campaign waged by management...Imagine what it does to developmentally disabled children when they lose 70 percent of their caregivers.

The current system to form a union in the workplace is slanted in favor of employers who too often use harassment and intimidation to stop unions and keep workers from getting a fair deal. "Eighteen months after our election, we finally won our first contract," says Roberta. "We finally won a voice in classroom decisions. But it shouldn't have been this hard to win improvements for our students." Read Roberta's entire story here.

The experiences of workers like Roberta show the necessity of the Employee Free Choice Act. "Without the protections provided by the Employee Free Choice Act, workers looking to join unions are subject to harassment, disinformation, and dismissal, because of a system that is exploited by, and stacked in favor of management," said actor Bradley Whitford, stressing that we must not allow lawmakers to put their own job protection ahead of the protection of their working constituents.

Around the country, activists are gearing up for the April 6-17 congressional recess by planning stepped-up mobilization actions in cities around the country to build support for the Employee Free Choice Act--so stayed turned for details on upcoming actions in the coming week.

To learn more about the "Faces" campaign and see the workers' billboards, visit www.americanrightsatwork.org

Almost as soon as she begin her new job as a housekeeper at Jorgensen's motel, Amy Swanson knew that the workplace conditions she and her coworkers were subjected to were untenable. There was no access to affordable healthcare and her wages were pitifully low. She and the other employees of the Helena, Montana motel had no job security, and little to no say in what their schedules would be from week-to-week.

"I knew I had to speak out," said Amy, sharing her story at a congressional briefing held by the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) on Capitol Hill this morning. "Not only for my own family, but for my co-workers and future housekeepers who will work at Jorgensen's. There was no reason why my job had to be a job with low wages, no benefits and high turnover." Amy knew from past experience the best way to go about improving her workplace:

I already knew that workers could win by forming a union. Before I moved to Helena I worked in food service at Warm Springs State Hospital. Because we had a union we were able to win healthcare coverage, job security and wages that could support a family.

That's not asking for much. But for me it means everything. It means not staying up at night worrying about how I'm going to keep the electricity on and put food on the table. It means being able to take my daughter to the doctor when she is sick or just bring her in for a checkup.

Amy started talking to her co-workers about advocating for workplace standards, higher wages and respect on the job through forming a union. Once these discussions on gaining a voice at work were underway, the employers at Jorgensen's motel made it clear right away that they were not in favor of the idea, singling Amy out to try and intimidate the other housekeepers from supporting the union. They changed her work schedule so she could no longer always pick up her daughter after school. They cut her schedule from 40 hours between 20 and 25 hours per week--and then added more rooms to her daily cleaning schedule. She was under constant surveillance by management, which was hard to deal with, Amy says. "It was a very intimidating environment and it was clear they wanted me to quit, but that was not even an option for me to consider."

Employers routinely and flagrantly violate workers' rights when they try to form unions for a voice. Studies show that 25 percent of union organizing drives lead to employee firing, and that one out of every five workers who openly support a union are fired. Amy Swanson can attest to these facts firsthand, since it happened to her:

One week before my one-year anniversary, I was fired. I worked hard everyday to support my daughter, and I was fired for speaking out and trying to improve my job.

This should not happen in America.

Luckily I found another job a few weeks later as a food service worker at a school in Helena. The hours allow me to care for my daughter, but I still don't have a union and I can't afford the health coverage offered.

If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to form unions without having to go through what Amy experienced. She and her coworkers would have had the free choice to form a union to improve their jobs and better support their families, without encountering employer resistance, intimidation or termination. They would have been able to win a contract that would Amy to provide for her daughter the life she deserves.

Read more about employer-based intimidation in the workplace here and why we need the Employee Free Choice Act.

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Amy Swanson is a Grassroots Lobbyist through SEIU's Change That Works campaign. You can read more about the program here.

When executives at Northern Berkshire Healthcare received word that the nursing home staff at Massachusetts Sweet Brook Care Centers petitioned to join 1199SEIU in January, they wasted no time before launching an anti-organizing campaign.

Their thinly veiled effort to strip caregivers of their voting rights didn't fool anyone--including the National Labor Relations Board. The Boston Regional Office of the NLRB issued a decision in favor of the long term care workers at Sweet Brook Nursing Home in Williamsburg, MA, on Monday, ruling that registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and lead certified nursing assistants will be eligible to vote in an upcoming union election.

In their 19-page decision reached after lengthy hearings, the NLRB rejected all arguments presented by executives at Sweet Brook and Northern Berkshire Healthcare (NBH) as part of an effort to exclude the caregivers from exercising a voice at work. NBH argued that registered nurses, LPNs and "lead" certified nursing assistants have supervisory authority that would prevent them from becoming union members.

"They were trying to say that we manage the other CNAs and have the power to change things," said Betty Higley, a lead certified nursing assistant in the dementia unit at Sweet Brook. "But you're just there to make sure the paperwork gets done. There was nothing that the hospital brought up that proved we were managers -- I still work weekends, I still work holidays. You can't dispute the truth."

Caregivers estimate that Northern Berkshire Healthcare has now wasted many tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer and patient care funds on executive junkets and a discretionary, totally meritless and unfounded legal battle against the voting rights of NBH employees at the Sweet Brook Nursing Home. Health system officials' defense is that they wanted to ensure the local's establishment was done correctly, and that the $500 an hour specialty lawyers were needed for last week's National Labor Relations Board hearings on union organizing at Sweet Brook that were held in Boston.

What were some of the many tactics Northern Berkshire Healthcare, led by CEO Richard Palmisano, employed while workers fought for the right to hold an election to have a voice at work?

1. Threatened service reductions and layoffs by hospital executives due to budgetary shortfalls at North Adams Regional Hospital.
   
2. An internal campaign of intimidation waged by the nursing home's own CEO, to guilt-trip employees by convincing them that forming a union would be equivalent to giving up their goals of improving resident care and jobs at the home.
   
3. One-on-one meetings with workers about their private voting choices, conducted by NBH executives.
   
4. Six days of NLRB hearings and testimony in Boston and Leominster, where testifying caregivers were kept away from their families and the nursing home residents for whom they care. During this hearing, NBH officials also tried to bar 35 nurses and certified nursing assistants from the election.

The answer: all of the above.

The overwhelming majority of eligible staff at Sweet Brook have already expressed, in writing, their support for forming a union at the nursing home. "Management at Sweet Brook has been doing everything in their power to prevent us from voting in a union election," said Betty Higley, a lead certified nursing assistant at Sweet Brook who attended the hearings, "They kept us away from home for almost a week. Enough is enough. Let us vote!"

Tremendous support from the workforce in question isn't stopping NBH, however--- Vice President of External Affairs Diane Cutillo said on Monday that the health-care system is appealing the decision to the National Labor Board in Washington, DC.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual union membership report yesterday that showed an increase in union membership nationwide for 2008 -- the largest growth rate on record since 1983. Growth in SEIU -- 88,926 members -- accounted for nearly 21 percent of the national growth.

"More and more American workers are joining together in unions to claim a share in the prosperity they help to create, while working to improve the services they provide," said SEIU International President Andy Stern. "Let this be a sign to those who would tell us that 'now is not the time' for workers have a voice at work: you're not fooling anyone. America's working families know that unions are still the best path to economic prosperity for workers in the U.S."

Click here for the full BLS report. More details to come on working people who joined with SEIU, so stay tuned!

1199SEIU, the Area Trades Council and Caritas Christi Health Care, the largest community based health system in Massachusetts,yesterday announced a historic and groundbreaking new accord ensuring fair union voting conditions for the system's employees when they are deciding whether to form unions. Read more about the accord in yesterday's Boston Globe.

"We are thrilled that the new leadership of Caritas has affirmed the right of hospital workers to make the decision for ourselves on whether to join together as a union," said St. Elizabeth's Medical Center employee Sonia Marshall, "As Caritas employees, we believe in the mission of our hospitals, and this decision reaffirms that our labor and our voice are valued and respected. In the end, that's what's best for patients, too."

"Today's groundbreaking agreement is good for health care, good for workers and good for hospitals," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy in a statement shared with Caritas workers yesterday. "This partnership establishes a firm foundation for future progress that will benefit both the hardworking people in our health care industry and the people of Massachusetts."

Representing a major breakthrough for labor relations within the state's health industry and across the region, the move by Caritas Christi, 1199SEIU, and the Area Trades Council embodies a new level of prospective cooperation designed to bring about the next generation of value and quality to health care.

"This forward-thinking accord will give workers a free choice about uniting to advocate not just for their patients and themselves, but also for the long-term sustainability of their hospitals and the noble mission of Caritas Christi," said 1199SEIU President George Gresham.

This historic accord of hospital workers also received the support of Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry and Representatives Barney Frank, Jim McGovern, Mike Capuano, Stephen Lynch, and Niki Tsongas of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation. They issued a statement, saying collectively:

"As elected leaders representing the people of Massachusetts, we express our strong support for the accords reached by Caritas Christi Health Care, the Area Trades Council and Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union. These accords will help launch a new direction for health care and labor relations in the Commonwealth."

Read the entire statement here.

Meet the new Right-to-Work-for-Less laws: state ballot initiatives to mandate "secret ballot" elections for union votes, trying to preempt the Employee Free Choice Act. On December 30, 2008, a new coalition calling itself the "Save Our Secret Ballot" (SOSB) coalition emerged onto the scene, announcing an under-the-radar state-level campaign to amend the state constitutions of Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Nevada and Utah to require a secret-ballot election for union representation.

What we really have here is yet another misleadingly-named corporate front group, whose real goal is to prevent workers from having a voice in an economy that works for everybody, not just for the wealthy. In Nevada and Utah, the legislature would place the proposed amendment on the ballot, while the coalition has begun to gather signatures in Arizona, Arkansas, and Missouri. SOSB hopes to expand its efforts to put initiatives on the ballot to prevent workers from opting in to form unions through majority sign-up to additional states.

Save Our Secret Ballot (SOSB) is a coalition of right-wing think tanks whose ideas have led us into the current economic crisis, working with individuals with ties to the Jack Abramoff scandal and a recent high-profile financial scandal.

Proposed State Constitutional Amendment

The 47-word amendment reads:

"The right of individuals to vote by secret ballot is fundamental. Where state or federal law requires elections for public office or public votes on initiatives or referenda, or designations or authorizations of employee representation, the right of individuals to vote by secret ballot shall be guaranteed."

The proposed language would require a secret ballot for any election required by state or federal law for:

(1) public office
(2) public initiatives or referenda
(3) employee representation

SOSB suggests that elections for homeowner associations and corporate boards may also be impacted by amendment language in some states.

Who is SOSB?

SOSB appears to be a project of the Goldwater Institute (which wrote the language) and the Heritage Foundation (whose representative chairs the SOSB national advisory board). The SOSB coalition itself has a national advisory board and a number of local supporters who have also been named in the press surrounding the public campaign kickoff.

The SOSB coalition refuses to disclose donors.

Advisory Board members

• Former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK), national advisory board chairman, Heritage Foundation. The Congressman received donations from Jack Abramoff (which were later returned), his office used an Abramoff company skybox, and his former chief of staff John Albaugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the House in connection to gifts from Abramoff clients. Istook ran for Oklahoma Governor in 2006, but lost in a 66-34 landslide to the Democratic nominee.
• Clint Bolick, Goldwater Institute, author of initiative. Bolick previously worked on defending school voucher programs and opposing affirmative action.
• Jonathan E. Johnson III, President, Overstock.com. Overstock.com was under SEC investigation in early 2008, and Johnson was accused on financial blogs of lying about the company's accounting practices and engaging in improper sales of stock.
• Gilbert Baker, Arkansas State Senator. Baker stepped down as Senate Majority Leader to focus on his own re-election campaign. U.S. Senator Pryor raised funds for Baker's opponent.
• Adam Hasner, Florida State House Majority Leader. Hasner has promoted alternative energy and sponsored a law requiring Florida's pension funds to divest from Iran.
• John Loudon, Missouri State Senator
• Mark Meierhenry, former South Dakota Attorney General
• Brian M. Johnson, executive director of the Alliance for Worker Freedom, a project of Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform
• Paul Jacob, President, Citizens in Charge, a right-wing think tank.

Other SOSB Supporters

• Tim Mooney, Scottsdale (AZ) political consultant. Mooney was previously involved in an effort to require schools to spend 65% of all funding on direct classroom expenses.
• Audrey Mullen, SOSB spokesperson who previously worked for Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.
• Sydney Hay, President, Arizona Mining Association. Hay registered the Arizona initiative. Hay recently failed in her bid to represent Arizona's first Congressional District.
• Pat Lilly, former city manager, St. Joseph (MO). Lilly says the period between filing for a union election and the election itself was critical to "educating" workers when he himself defeated a union drive among city workers in the mid-1990s.
• Bill Vickery, Arkansas political consultant, co-chair of Arkansas SOSB.
• Carl Wimmer, Utah state representative. Wimmer apparently plans to sponsor the amendment in the Utah legislature.
• Tibi Ellis, Nevada state chair of SOSB
• Dave Rouchka, owner of Medallion Electric (Sedalia, MO), co-chair of Missouri SOSB
• Glenn Hamer, President, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Jeff Roe, Kansas City political consultant

Washington, D.C. --Wal-Mart Watch, a leading critic of the nation's largest employer and architect of an independent public education campaign to expose the truth about Wal-Mart's business practices, announced today that it is joining efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that Wal-Mart's employees and other workers around the country will have the choice to form a union to advocate for better wages and benefits.

"Since 2005, Wal-Mart Watch has successfully called public attention to Wal-Mart's bad business practices. It has become clear, however, that neither concern for its workers nor its own public image will persuade Wal-Mart to do right by its employees," said Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar. "While Wal-Mart Watch did not begin with the premise that Wal-Mart needed a union, in this economic climate and with Wal-Mart's repeated intractability, the workers of Wal-Mart need the choice and the chance to unite their voices and bargain for better wages, better benefits and fair working conditions. The Employee Free Choice Act is that chance for Wal-Mart employees and workers all around this country."

To martial all available resources toward this effort, Wal-Mart Watch is merging its operations into the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to share knowledge and expertise and best serve the efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Wal-Mart Watch will also work closely with Change to Win and United Food and Commercial Workers to make sure that Wal-Mart employees do not miss out on this opportunity to make their voices heard.

"Even in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the Walton family and the Wal-Mart shareholders are continuing to prosper. But who gets left behind time and time again? The workers," said Andy Stern, President of SEIU and founder of Wal-Mart Watch. "Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott makes about $16,000 per hour; his employees make $10.86 per hour without benefits. Lee Scott could not be more clear when he was asked about the Employee Free Choice Act and said, 'We like driving the car and we're not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.' Well we've got news for Lee Scott: his passengers are tired of being driven into the ditch."