More than 300 activists from 15 states converged on Capitol Hill on Thursday to tell their elected leaders that workers need and deserve meaningful labor law reform. The diverse group of small business owners, veterans, farmers, students, faith leaders, civil rights activists, women's advocates, and environmentalists are uniting in one voice to remind lawmakers why the Employee Free Choice Act is vital to rebuilding our economy.

New Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, Senator Tom Harkin, kicked off the lobby day at a morning press conference with a speech to the state delegations. Senator Harkin shared a personal story of his brother fighting for union rights and confirmed his commitment to passing the Employee Free Choice Act, saying saying "When I tell you in unequivocal terms that the Employee Free Choice Act is a priority, you can take that to the bank!"

Watch highlights from Sen. Harkin's speech here:

The advocates from states including AK, ND, NE, MT, MO, WI, ME, PA, CO and CA also shared some reasons why they came to Washington--and why all progressives should support the Employee Free Choice Act.

"I am a small business owner here to help bring our message to Capitol Hill. We want justice for rural workers in North Dakota--they deserve proper pay for what they do. We want change in our working environment."

"I'm proud to be here with [all these] major activists from four major Pennsylvania cities...We want to stand for Free Choice. We are so financially strapped with workers in PA we had to have a paper flag here today--we couldn't afford to buy a cloth flag. We are here to fight for Employee Free Choice today."

"Everyone acknowledges the system is broken and justice delayed or justice deferred, is always in the end result, justice denied. We are here to provide justice for workers. All of those workers see very simply that as an issue of justice, the faith community really has to step up make it very clear the moral imperatives of this legislation."

Call the Senate now for Employee Free Choice.

PHOTOS:
« September 9th Training &
« September 10th Lobbying Day

With Labor Day right around the corner, we wanted to catch you up on what SEIU and our allies have been up to over the last few weeks. From opposition groups confusing their Congressmen to new studies and reports from the states, keep reading for a full recess round-up on Employee Free Choice.

Note to Michigan Anti-Free Choice Group: Next Time, Try Wikipedia? The Jackson Patriot, a local Michigan paper, reported in August about an interesting situation that the Michigan Manufacturers recently found themselves in. "Recently, a billboard went up along Boardman Road, visible from I-94, to urge Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act. Some smart guy realized that even though Peterson represents the 7th Congressional District, this is Michigan, and painted over the last two letters in his name. So now it urges U.S. Rep. Gary Peters to vote no. Right state this time, still the wrong Congressman. Eventually, I'm guessing the Michigan Manufacturers Association will want the billboard it paid for to urge U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, who represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District, to vote against the union-backed legislation."

New York Times: Low Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says. A new study, "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers" based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, shows that low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage. Furthermore, "One in five workers reported having lodged a complaint about wages to their employer or trying to form a union in the previous year, and 43 percent of them said they had experienced some form of illegal retaliation, like firing or suspension, the study said." Read the full article here.

Exposed: MT Hair Salons Denying Workers A Right To A Union Before They Are Formed. As reported in both the Great Falls Tribune and The New York Times, a former manager of a hair salon in Great Falls came forward with her story about Regis Corporation asking its employees to sign documents nullifying any union cards they may sign in a future organizing campaign. While Regis claims the cards are being circulated to protect workers' rights to a secret ballot election, the former manager, Keri Gorder said, "I thought it was taking our right away before we ever exercised that right." And a leading labor expert described this tactic as illegal. Read more about it here: and here.

Labor Day List: Partnerships That Work. This week, ARAW released their yearly showcase of employers who "walk the walk when it comes to respecting their own workers' rights, and now they are going a step further by standing up on behalf of all U.S. workers. Every business profiled herein has spoken out on the need for meaningful labor law reform to ensure men and women have decent opportunities and their rights protected." These businesses include: American Income Life Insurance Company, Ivory Leathers, Inc, McGuire Scenic, Morton Williams Supermarkets, Print and Copy Center, Raymond's Painting and Decorating, West Sheet Metal Company, and Wisconsin Vision, Inc. See the full list of employers that have a successful relationships with their employee's labor unions.

No Coercion in Majority Sign-up. In their "Economic Snapshot" for the week of August 19th, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) focused in on a lack of evidence of how majority sign-up or "card check" leads to coercion. Although Employee Free Choice opponents argue that unions will coerce employees to sign authorization cards or obtain a majority through fraud, a recent report, however, "suggests that this claim is frivolous." In fact, "a study of four states--Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and New York--that have had majority sign-up for public sector employees for many years failed to turn up a single meritorious case of coercion or fraud in more than 1,000 majority sign-up campaigns involving 34,000 employees between 2003 and 2009." More here.

Young Workers: A Lost Decade. In a new nationwide survey of young workers released earlier this week, the AFL-CIO found that more than one in three young workers say they are currently living at home with their parents, 31 percent of young workers reports being uninsured, up from 24 percent without health insurance coverage 10 years ago, and one-third of young workers cannot pay the bills and seven in 10 do not have enough saved to cover two months of living expenses. Full report here; read more about the survey here.

ARAW Employee Free Choice Lobby Day. Next week, over 200 progressive activists from 15 states--including small business owners, faith leaders, veterans, farmers and students will travel to Washington and meet with their members of Congress to discuss the reasons we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

If you would like more information about next week's lobby day, please let us know.

When security guard Richard Ruiz expressed frustration over he and his coworkers' unsuccessful efforts to form a union in their workplace to Miami New Times' blog Riptide, he was simply trying to give a voice to their struggle.

In January, about seventy-five percent of the Security Alliance guards signed cards to form a union with SEIU--but since that time, he and the 50 or so security guards employed by Security Alliance of Florida in the Miami Beach area had been experiencing intimidation, scare tactics and harassment at the hands of their employer for exercising their rights to organize. Ruiz was the only one out of his coworkers who was willing to speak about their efforts to form a union on the record.

His reward for having the courage to speak out for what he believes in? Losing his job. "We are trying to make this city safer for everybody, but I was fired when they found out I was speaking out and wanted a union," said Richard Ruiz, who was terminated after working for more than two years for Security Alliance. "Employers shouldn't stop decent people from trying to have a better life."

Paul Begala has an incredibly powerful and persuasive op-ed in Politico today making the case for the Employee Free Choice Act. After introducing nightmare hypothetical scenarios of workers getting fired for trying to organize, Begala pulls back the curtain and reveals the stories are about real workers who were fighting for better jobs.

All of these stories are absolutely true. The stories of Trish Miechur, the CNA, and Corey Kresse, the metalworker, are replicated in boardrooms and factories across America. The story of Ken Lewis, Bank of America's CEO? Well, that's a familiar one, too. So here's the question: Why are their experiences so different? Whom do we want our economic policies to benefit?

For eight years under the GOP, economic policy gave CEOs such as Ken Lewis the gold mine, while giving hardworking, middle-class Americans such as Trish and Corey the shaft. President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress were elected to change that, and protecting employees from corporate abuses is part of the change we need. That's what the Employee Free Choice Act will do.

Corporate lobbyists say the phrase "Employee Free Choice Act" as though it were a curse. But for Trish and Corey, it's a blessing. The point of the Employee Free Choice Act is to say that we've had enough of an economy that works for Ken Lewis -- and Bernie Madoff, for that matter. We want an economy that works for Trish Miechur and Corey Kresse.

The Employee Free Choice Act gives workers an opportunity to bargain with their employers for better job security, wages and health care at a time of astounding corporate greed. The legislation has three main parts: 1) It says that when a majority of workers want to form a union, a real path is provided for them to do so -- a path chosen by workers, not corporate special interests; 2) it penalizes employers who try to fire or harass workers for attempting to form a union; and 3) it says that once workers have voted for a union, employers have to come to agreement with workers on a contract. Simple stuff, right?

So why are corporate interests squealing like a pig stuck under a gate? Maybe because they're the only ones who prospered under the Bush-Lewis-Madoff policies.

As of now, it's unclear when the Employee Free Choice Act will be given a vote in Congress. Recent press stories, based largely around anonymous comments from Democratic aides, has suggested that it is unlikely the bill will get a vote any time soon--and especially not prior to the completion of healthcare reform.

But legislative delays don't diminish the moral and economic imperative for sweeping labor reform and as a result, we must continue to call on Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act with majority sign-up. As Begala notes, this popular piece of legislation will get America's economy moving again, so we have no time to lose.

On the on the heels of recent news that reports a bill version of the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate may not include majority sign-up provisions, we thought we'd revisit why we need this provision included in legislation to restore giving workers the actual choice of whether they want union representation.

Majority signup is based on a simple idea: if a majority of workers say they want a union, they should get a union. And the public agrees: three-quarters (75%) of adults favor allowing workers to have a union once a majority of the employees in a workplace sign authorization cards indicating that they want to form a union, including 44% who strongly support the idea. [Hart Research Associates, 1/8/09 ]

One of the most common scare tactics corporate special interests continue to use to try and stop the Employee Free Choice Act is the charge that majority signup is baaaaad for workers because it makes them feel pressured or coerced into signing cards. To those opponents we say: check your facts. Academic studies show that workers who organize under majority sign-up feel less pressure from co-workers to support the union than workers who organize under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process.

During NLRB elections, 46 percent of workers complained of pressure from management. In contrast, during majority signup campaigns, only 4.6 percent of workers who signed a card with a union organizer reported that the presence of the organizer made them feel pressured to sign the card. [Adrienne Eaton, Ph.D. of Rutgers University, and Jill Kriesky of Wheeling Jesuit University, Fact Over Fiction: Opposition to Card Check Doesn't Add Up, 9/06]

So, where's the controversy? "As negotiations on the Employee Free Choice Act continue in Congress, members need only look at public opinion to realize the only controversy over majority signup is being fabricated by a vocal, well financed, factually-challenged minority led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and corporate powerhouses like Wal-Mart," said Tom McMahon, Executive Director of Americans United for Change in a statement today.

There's no debate among working people in this country that the system is badly broken for the 60 million workers who would form a union tomorrow if they could. The current labor system is no longer effectively protecting and enforcing workers' rights in the election process. It has become a system that allows big business and corporate special interests to routinely harass, intimidate and even fire workers who try to form a union and bargain for better pay and benefits and a voice on the job. "These Corporate special interests will continue to say or do anything to keep the system broken, but when three-quarters of the American people agree majority signup is central to labor reform and building a strong economic foundation for our disappearing middle-class, Congress really doesn't have to listen," says McMahon. We couldn't agree more.

Majority signup is a democratic, proven approach that allows workers to have a fair, direct path to join unions--and it's important that both the House and Senate consider this common-sense idea to level the playing field against corporate greed.

Please add your name to the petition to Congress in support of majority signup and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Update: new video added. Watch it here

Today's hip-hop "Healthcare Remix" panel discussion at SEIU's headquarters in Washington, DC shed a bright light on the need for healthcare reform that does more than just expand insurance coverage--and why it is imperative that every community has a voice at the decision-making table. The event was held in honor of J Dilla, an influential hip-hop MC and producer whose rising star was cut short by complications stemming from his battle with Lupus.

Panelists spoke on the tremendous need for the hip-hop and artist community to advocate publicly on the need for healthcare reform, both in their communities and on Capitol Hill. "Hip-hop understood the power of being organized and the power of collaboration and diversity in organizing before it became the [more mainstream] term it is today. Unions understand this too," said panel moderator CIR/SEIU Healthcare president Dr. L Toni Lewis. "What you have is your voice to let Congress know what needs to done for healthcare equality today."

"Our people--poor people--are dying in America today because they don't have a card<," said Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr., the president and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus of the millions of people whose suffering might have been prevented if they had been able to afford to receive the life-saving care they needed. Watch Rev. Yearwood speak about the biggest battle facing our generation in the 21st century:

Check out photos from the Healthcare Remix discussion here.

After holding its Health Care Organizing Kickoff this weekend with thousands of house parties across the country, Organizing for America unveiled its "Health Care Action Center" today.

Check it out: http://my.barackobama.com/HealthCare

Organizing for America kickoff event recaps: SEIU's Change that Works campaign joined with OFA and thousands of volunteers in hosting health care organizing kickoffs in their communities. SEIU bloggers Jamiah Adams and Rafael Noboa Rivera have scenes from kickoff meetings held this weekend in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Denver.

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

---

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).

President Obama indicated this week that he wants a health care bill that provides quality, affordability, and accessibility--and that the key to achieving all three of those goals is the public health insurance option. In a letter sent to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MO) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), President Obama declared:

I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.

Let's be clear - this is big news for health care reform. It means that the President himself thinks no legislation is complete without first providing Americans the option of a public health insurance plan.

The public health insurance option is important because it does three things:

• Lowers costs for individuals and families by competing side-by-side with private insurance plans
  
• Sets high standards for quality and accessibility that other plans will strive to meet
  
• Gives Americans more choice in their coverage by offering an affordable alternative to over-priced plans

"This year, we must do more than discuss. We must act."
President Obama stresses the urgency of reform in his letter to Baucus and Kennedy, calling health care reform a "necessity we cannot defer:"

We simply cannot afford to postpone health care reform any longer. This recognition has led an unprecedented coalition to emerge on behalf of reform -- hospitals, physicians, and health insurers, labor and business, Democrats and Republicans. These groups, adversaries in past efforts, are now standing as partners on the same side of this debate.

Americans cannot wait for the health care crisis to get worse before they see real change. And after 80 years, we finally have the solution to this health care crisis in our sights. Getting there is going to require an all-out sprint to the finish line that starts right now, and thanks to the support of the administration and remarks by the President this week, we've got the wind at our backs.

SEIU's Change that Works campaign is joining with Organizing for America and thousands of volunteers in hosting health care organizing kickoffs in their communities. Join us in beginning the last big push to fix America's broken health care system starting this Saturday.

Will you take part on June 6th? Click here to get involved: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/june6

(Read the President's letter to Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Baucus here)

On June 6th, thousands of people just like you are beginning to organize for healthcare reform by hosting or attending a Healthcare for Organizing Kickoff with Organizing for America.

This moment is critical. This summer, President Obama will be working to pass healthcare reform that reduces cost, guarantees choice and ensures all Americans have quality, affordable healthcare--and he can't do it alone.

This is something Obama has been planning for since before the election, with the aim to continue the grassroots advocacy that the former Illinois Senator began in his presidential campaign. In a call to members of Organizing for America, Obama said, "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," adding, "I think the status quo is unacceptable and that we've got to get it done this year."

No experience is needed to host or attend - you'll get everything you need to make it a success. At these Organizing for America kickoffs, you'll watch a special message from the President, meet like-minded supporters in your neighborhood, make plans for reaching out in your community--and start to put those plans in action.

We can win healthcare reform in the same way we won the election: building support one block, one neighbor, one conversation at a time. Please join us by signing up today: http://action.seiu.org/June6

Download the event flyer [PDF] here.

Billy Mason works at a manufacturing company in Hampton, Virginia. After 24 years of service, Mason saw a decrease in real wages; health and retirement benefits. Mason believed that the only recourse for him and his fellow workers was to organize. The company fought him and fellow organizers steadfastly with smear and fear campaign speeches by management before each shift.

Despite the fact that two-thirds of the workers signed union cards, in the end, management's anti-union propaganda worked and the union was defeated. For his organizing efforts, Mason was punished with two weeks unpaid leave. The union brought his case to the National Labor Relations board and he won back salary, but Mason is daunted by the 30,000+ cases surrounding unfair labor practices around the country. The Employee Free Choice Act is necessary to level the playing field for workers in Virginia and throughout the nation.

In an op-ed piece for the DailyPress.com, Mason makes a great analogy on the uphill battle workers face when trying to organize:

Here's a pretty accurate description: Imagine a football game between one team with cleats, helmets and shoulder pads playing another who doesn't have any equipment at all. It's not only that companies have all kinds of advantages, but also that workers are so vulnerable to abuse. The Employee Free Choice Act will help even the playing field.

At the Costa Mesa town hall meeting this week, the main item on President Obama's agenda was selling his $787 billion stimulus package and other large-scale proposals on the way on education, health care reform, housing and energy. Obama addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 people in a relatively upbeat fashion, as he promised "brighter days ahead" and the expectation that the administration can create or save 396,000 jobs in the state of California over the next two years.

President Obama also introduced the launch of a new website: www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov, to help borrowers determine whether they're eligible for the administration's housing plan (an estimated 7 to 8 million homeowners are), and to help them calculate how much money the plan could save them on their monthly payments. The plan is designed to help homeowners save money by refinancing or modifying their mortgages.

During the Q&A session of the Orange County town hall, Obama reiterated a theme of looking out for working people and creating an economy where prosperity is once again broadly shared--an economy that's good for everybody, not just the few at the top. "If the middle class is doing well, working people are doing well, then everybody's doing well," the president said.

One of the audience's questions came from the president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, Bob Balgenorth, who referenced the Bush administration's failure to enforce wage and hour conditions for workers and other workers' rights protections. "What can your administration do to make sure that people get the wages that they're entitled to in this terrible economic downturn?" asked Balgenworth.

In his response, Obama reiterated his support for making it easier for workers to form unions to restore balance and improve millions of Americans' economic standing:

We think it is important that unions have the opportunity to organize themselves.

[...] The business press says that's anti-business. And whenever I hear that I'm always reminded of what Henry Ford said when he first started building the Model T -- and he was paying his workers really well. And somebody asked him, they said, why are you paying your workers so well? He said, well, if I don't pay them well, they won't be able to buy a car.

Think about that...part of the problem with our economy and the way it was growing was that wages and incomes for ordinary working families were flat for the entire decade. Now, I don't need to tell you this because you've experienced it in your own lives. You've just barely kept up with inflation while people at the very top...were seeing all the benefits.

So when I say that we should make it easier for unions to organize and observe Davis-Bacon, all I'm trying to do is to restore some balance to our economy so that middle-class families who are working hard, going to their jobs every day, doing the right thing by their kids -- they should be able to save, buy a home, go on a vacation once in a while. You know, they should be able to save for retirement, send their kids to college. That's not too much to ask for. That's the American dream. And the only way we get there is if we have bottom up economic growth instead of top down economic growth.

SEIU and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) today announced the signing of a transformative cooperation agreement.

The two unions will work together to organize hospital workers throughout the country who don't yet have a union voice, with CNA/NNOC as the leading voice for RNs, and SEIU as the leading voice for all other hospital workers.

With the opportunity to win the Employee Free Choice Act and healthcare reform just around the corner, both SEIU and CNA/NNOC recognized that their energy and resources would be better spent on uniting all healthcare workers -- instead of focusing on the issues that divide them. Although the two unions have not always seen eye-to-eye in the past, this new agreement puts an end to past conflicts and commits both unions to working together on issues that are most important to health care workers: bringing the power of collective bargaining to all health care workers and advocating for better health care jobs, staffing, and patient care. "It's much more than a truce," SEIU president Andy Stern told AP. "It's really trying to establish a partnership at a moment of profound change in our country."

As part of this agreement, neither union will interfere with the other's organizing campaigns or internal affairs--and will collaborate on future organizing in some of the nation's largest hospital systems. Together, SEIU and CNA/NNOC will create a new joint RN organization in Florida to represent current and future RNs of both unions in that state. In all other states, SEIU will continue to represent its current RN members in bargaining.

Given the challenges facing health care workers today, bringing together the strength of the nation's largest health care union and largest RN union to work towards increased union representation for healthcare workers will hugely assist efforts to enact genuine healthcare reform nationally and for measures that allow states to adopt single-payer health care systems. "Those who recognize our shared value of making sure registered nurses and other health care workers have not only a say but a critical role in helping reshape a failed system into something that actually helps people know that this is the right step to help us meet the challenge and the call of this moment," said Stern.

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"Local 1199 represents the authentic conscience of the labor movement."
- From Dr. King's remarks at 1199's Salute to Freedom celebration in 1968.

---

One way to celebrate black history this month is by focusing on the history of African Americans in the labor movement. No single person made greater contributions toward the advancement of both the civil rights and labor movements than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was killed while in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers trying to form a union. Dr. King always saw strengthening unions and lifting up workers as critical to achieving long term justice for African Americans. He helped motivate hundreds of thousands of activists--both black and white--through his speeches and the example he set.

"I'm often disenchanted with some segments of the power structure of the labor movement, but in those moments I begin to think of unions like Local 1199," said Dr. King in one of his last speeches at 1199SEIU to union members and supporters before his assassination in 1968. "It gives me renewed courage and vigor to carry on and the feeling that there are some unions left that will always maintain the radiant and vibrant idealism that brought the labor movement into being," said Dr. King.

Listen to Dr. King's full speech about continuing fight for social and economic justice here:

The 1960s saw Dr. King address countless labor gatherings, and he did not confine his support to just speechmaking. He often joined workers on the picket lines; and when the 1199SEIU drive to organize New York City's voluntary hospitals began in 1962, Dr. King called New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and urged him to support collective bargaining legislation.

Coretta Scott King addressing an audience at 1199 headquarters

Just two months after Dr. King's death in 1968, 1199 hospital workers won the historic $100 per week minimum wage. And on the heels of that victory, Dr. King's widow Coretta Scott King, agreed to serve as honorary chairperson of the 1199 National Organizing Committee. She went on to remain a close friend and ally of 1199 for the rest of her life, speaking at 1199 conventions and Black History Month celebrations.

Unionists across the nation have drawn strength from Dr. King. "His dedication to the rights of the workers who are so often exploited by the forces of greed has profoundly touched my life and guided my struggle," said the late Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farmworkers of America and an icon in the labor and rights movements. "During my first fast in 1968, Dr. King reminded me that our struggle was his struggle too. He sent me a telegram, which said, 'Our separate struggles are really one. A struggle for freedom, for dignity, and for humanity."

"As we continue to learn from some of the greatest innovators, activists, intellectuals and community leaders in history, the best way we can honor and remember their legacy is to continue their work for equal and fair treatment, and support the fight for decent wages, benefits and improved training for all workers. Advancing their cause is one way we can truly celebrate Black History Month," said Kyle Bragg, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU.

*Visit www.seiu.org/blackhistorymonth

The Employee Free Choice Act, the legislation supported by President Obama and large majorities of both houses of congress WILL NOT ELIMINATE SECRET BALLOTS IN UNION REPRESENTATION ELECTIONS (PERIOD).

Opponents like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a range of right-wing front groups led by disciples of George W. Bush, Karl Rove, and Grover Norquist -- the folks who got the country in the mess we're in right now -- want to try to make this a debate about "secret ballots." They cry crocodile tears for workers they claim are being denied their American rights to a democratic election. But, the fact is, the Employee Free Choice Act is democratic - and it puts the choice of how workers form unions in workers' hands, not big corporations - and that's why these guys are really crying.

Let's look at how union representation elections are currently conducted, and how the deck is stacked against workers in winning the right to unite together into a union. Anyone who thinks this is a fair and democratic process has obviously never been involved in it.

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!

A Sign of Hope in Tough Economic Times, More Than 88,000 Workers United in SEIU in 2008 to Improve Their Lives and the Services They Deliver

WASHINGTON, DC--SEIU President Andy Stern issued the following statement regarding today's announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the percentage of American workers belonging to a union increased for a second consecutive year in 2008:

"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.

"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.

"In 2008, the American people said 'no' to enriching the few at the expense of the many; they expressed outrage at a Republican administration willing to bail out Wall Street with hard-earned tax dollars from Main Street. They elected a new President and Congress who have pledged to restore the America where prosperity is shared and hard work is rewarded.

"Looking ahead in 2009, working people are organizing and fighting for an economic recovery package that keeps people working, creates new jobs, and maintains vital services for our communities; affordable healthcare for all; and protections to ensure workers' right to choose freely whether and how to come together for a voice at work."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual union membership report, released today, shows that the share of workers belonging to a union rose in 2008. This is the largest growth rate on record since the data was first collected in 1983. Growth in SEIU--88,926 members--accounted for nearly 21 percent of the national growth.

In this Washington Post interview, SEIU President Andy Stern talks about Wal-Mart, Obama's many strengths and changing the status quo with Steve Pearlstein, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Commentary.

Highlights from the discussion.....Andy Stern:

On Wal-Mart's "Terrible" Moral Leadership

"Wal-Mart, as the largest employer in America, has taken a terrible role as being a moral center. Henry Ford had the understanding that people needed money to buy the car. Wal-Mart's philosophy seems to be if the five Walton family members can make money, we don't have to worry about people buying the car. They are the essence of 25 years of failed economic theory."

On Obama's Leadership Skills [and what makes him a really good leader]

"[...] Obama is clear on what he wants to accomplish, and he makes a plan...as I like to say, he works back from victory, rather than from the present forward. And once he's made his plan, he works the plan [without distraction].

"I think Obama has incredible personal skills. I've never seen a better personal organizer...you spend a day watching him on a campaign trail, but more importantly for our members, they got to watch him as a community organizer. This is a person with incredible integrity, he's a good listener and he's smarter than everyone else in the room but doesn't act that way."

On Union and Business Leadership

"Both labor and business are very stuck in the 20th century. Both do not realize we're living through the third economic revolution in history, and it's far from over. In both cases, people are managing what is and not dreaming about what can be."

On Leading Others to Change the Status Quo

"When you're walking down a road and you know where it ends and you're not happy, you have to go in a different direction.

"We've seen in the auto industry, the pharmaceutical industry and now in investment houses, that challenging orthodoxy sometimes is enormously important--because the consequences of not doing so are even more devastating."

Watch the video here.

Worst Companies for Union Organizing Highlighted for International Human Rights Day

From the International Labor Rights Forum:

Adopted on this day sixty years ago, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that "everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests," (Article 23, Section 4). As human rights advocates around the world celebrate International Human Rights Day, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has released "Working for Scrooge: 5 Worst Companies for the Right to Associate," a list of the five worst multinational corporations for union organizing.

One particularly sad and shocking statistics (among many) in this survey: the ILRF reports "at least 91 unionists were killed globally as a result of their organizing efforts in 2007."

The companies on this year's list of the 2008 five worst multinational corporations for union organizing include:

• Wal-Mart - for violating worker rights in the USA, Canada and elsewhere.
• Nestle - for violations in the Philippines, Colombia, Peru, Russia and Pakistan.
• Del Monte - for violations in Guatemala and the Philippines.
• Dole - for violations in the Philippines, Costa Rica and Colombia.
• Russell/Fruit of the Loom - for violations in Honduras and Uzbekistan.

Read the full report here.

*Top offenders selected on the basis of their ties to violence against trade unions and suppression of the universal right to organize.

"We have to recognize that in real, 21st-century terms, 'Workers of the world, unite,' can't be just a slogan," said SEIU President Andy Stern during the early stages of the formation of Alliance for Justice at G4S, a growing group of unions from across the globe that first came together in 2005 to raise standards and win a better future for security workers.

Today, the Journal of the International Centre for Trade Union Rights (ICTUR) called SEIU's global effort to organize private security officers in several African countries, the United Kingdom, and other locations "One of the most developed campaigns aimed at building a global union and raising standards for low wage service..."  

Read the entire article here.

>> More about SEIU's global partnerships