Some of the biggest corporations in America are lining up to fight Pennsylvania's working people. They're spending millions of dollars - some of it your tax dollars from the bailouts! - to stop corporations from being held accountable.

Join us - tell Sen. Specter to stand with Pennsylvania's hard-working families and support the Employee Free Choice Act.

They think that they can send in CEOs to make Senator Specter forget about working people. With your help, we can make sure that doesn't happen...but we need your help right now.

Tell Senator Specter to stand with working families and support the Employee Free Choice Act.

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, Senator Arlen Specter decided to cross the aisle and become a Democrat. 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.

Here are some of your letters to him:

B. C.:

"Just like you signed a form switching parties, you need to give workers the right to sign a card saying they want to belong to a union. There is a time and place for a secret ballot and a time and place to simply sign a card. This is the time for you to change your position. Think of your legacy."

R. S.:

"Last week, I met a woman who campaigned to bring a voice at work to her workplace. After 17 years at her job, she makes $10.00 an hour. Nearing retirement, this woman wanted to make her workplace fairer for herself and her coworkers. Two years after electing union representation, they still do not have a contract. In the Jewish tradition, social justice is a driving force. Employee Free Choice is sound and needed social policy. It will bring equality and balance to the one-up/one-down power dynamic in the workplace. Please support EFCA."

T. M.:

"First off, I think it's great you are now a Democrat! When I heard this I started to cry, because now I believe change is really going to happening and I'm so proud that you are my senator! If only I could get you to support the EFCA, it would be even better! I going through to much at work, I am on the verge of losing my job because I am fighting for a union. Without a union, we hard working people have no representation and there's too much favoritism! I need your help, and I am asking you from the bottom of my heart: PLEASE Support the Employee Free Choice Act. I have faith in you, and so do a lot of others!"

P. L., Allegheny County:

"Welcome to my party, Senator Specter. I write today with a plea to you. Living today in the U.S. as a working class citizen is not financially easy. The only hope we have is that unions can help lift everyone up from wages which have been truly stagnant since the eighties and have not matched the increases in cost-of-living. Food, transportation, and housing have all shown to have had very large increases since the early eighties; however, wages have had minor increases and do not allow workers to afford even minimum essentials. Before President Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers, we had hopes, dreams and good jobs. I lived in NYC and Pittsburgh with positive hopes for the future back then. Crime was minimal because people had decent jobs.

A horrible transition has taken place in our country since the eighties because some of our leaders have been unduly basing their votes on bills to assist big business--and we all are now aware of the damage that the fealty to the rich and the powerful has caused. Please reconsider your present stance on unions and help us to build a better future for all. Thank you, Senator Specter, for your work and independence."

T.F., Allegheny County:

"Dear Senator Specter: I'm glad to have you as a fellow PA Democrat -- be assured your hallmark of independent thinking will always be appreciated among us. Please review the Free Choice Act and see if there are ways in which you can support this legislation from a conservative democratic point of view. As a Democrat, I have voted for you since the 80s and believe you are one of the best independent minds in the Senate and as a state leader of thoughtful compromise. Best Wishes to you and your family during this repositioning period."

S. H., Philadelphia

"Oh Mr. Specter, it is a blessing to have you join the Democratic party! I wish that you would support working families such as myself, who work hard to survive. I maintain my home and support my son who is autistic. I pray that your judgment be for good cause in supporting the issues that are right, supporting people such as myself that aren't looking for government to do everything--just to keep an open mind with assistance and do what's right by us, the working middle class."

J. R., Erie:

"The U.S. needs more better-paying jobs for workers and unions are a good way to obtain them. Unfortunately, many businesses in the last decade have been very aggressive in their efforts to defeat unionization efforts and break unions. They have even violated national labor relations laws to do this with very modest, if any, penalties being imposed. The Employee Free Choice Act counter-balances business efforts and restores a more level playing field in business-labor relations. Please support it."

These are just a few of the hundreds of letters that we've gotten; there are many, many more. We're delivering many of these to Sen. Specter's office today, and we'll continue to do so as the days go on.

Please, take a moment and write Senator Specter today -- he needs to hear from you. As Senator Specter knows, putting Pennsylvania's families ahead of partisanship is a priority. Thanks for taking the time to write to him. We'll let you know how our delivery goes next week.

Statement from SEIU President Andy Stern on Senator Specter's announcement that he is switching political parties to become a Democrat:

"It's clear to us that the right-wing conservatives in control of the leadership of the Republican party in Pennsylvania left Senator Specter long ago and we are pleased that he has decided to do the same. Just as he did with his leadership on the economic stimulus bill, Senator Specter has once again demonstrated the political courage it takes to put the interests of the working families of Pennsylvania ahead of partisanship. We have always had tremendous common ground with Senator Specter on issues important to working families including the need for reform to our nation's labor laws. We look forward to continuing our long history of working with Senator Specter to create positive change for the working families of Pennsylvania."

Yesterday, your U.S. Senator, Arlen Specter, announced that he would vote against even allowing a debate about the leveling the playing field with the Employee Free Choice Act.

Honestly, I was shocked. It doesn't make sense. How can someone who is such a strong supporter of the democratic process refuse to allow even a meaningful debate about such an important issue?

Senator Specter and his staff need to hear from you. Please take 5 minutes to call his office and tell him that you're not happy with his decision.

Click here to make a free phone call to Senator Specter.

Senator Specter said he doesn't think we should give employees free choice at work until the economy improves. That's backwards. If we're going to get out of our current economic mess, Pennsylvania will need those secure jobs now, more than ever.

If the Employee Free Choice Act becomes law, it can help almost 1 million Pennsylvanians and pump more than $2 billion into the state's economy every year.

Can you believe that? That's what Senator Specter is denying your state by not supporting a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Click here to make a quick, free call to Senator Specter and urge him to allow a debate. Just 5 minutes of your time will go a long way.

For Senator Specter's whole career, he's stood up for working people. He knows the struggle of working people who want to join a union.

We need Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street. Senator Specter can bring this change - but he needs to hear from you now.

Please make this call.