Last week, the Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act billboard kicked off with style in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Covered in an article by Seacoast Online, the purpose of the tour is to urge Senators Snowe and Collins to support the Employee Free Choice Act by showing the real-life workers behind the movement against worker intimidation.

Some of those 'faces' present at the rally on Wednesday in support of the Employee Free Choice Act were Paul O'Connor, President of the Metal Trades Council, and Kirk Miller, President of IFPTE Local 4, the local union of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Said Miller, to Seacoast Online, on why he and his fellow workers support the act:

"At the Shipyard most workers are represented by a union because they not only see the importance of having a voice in the workplace, but because the Navy, to their credit, does not stand in the way of the will of a majority or workers to have a union, if they so choose," said Kirk Miller, President of IFPTE Local 4 at the shipyard. "Sadly, this is not the case in the private sector, where hard working people who want to improve their working conditions are threatened and intimidated by their employers when they show an interest in forming a union."

Just as Maine's Veterans stand in support of the Employee Free Choice Act for what it can do to improve Maine's private sector economy, so do the people who build the ships they fight on. They all understand that a stronger workforce means a stronger middle class, which means a better economy for everyone, and that the ability to organize without intimidation is the first step.

Also present at the rally were two of the campaign's featured 'faces,' E.J. Russell and Cecile Martin, two workers from Maine who have been victims of employee harassment and intimidation while trying to organize unions. Said Paul O'Connor, President of the Metal Trades Council, of the opposition both faced while attempting to form unions:

"Cecille,almost 20 years ago and E.J. just last year. Both of them faced employer opposition, in both cases their employer sought to stop their efforts to form a union and bargain. It is because of stories like these that we are calling on our Congressional Delegation to support the Employee Free Choice Act."

Across the state, hard working Mainers and their families are stepping forward to voice their support for what Maine AFL-CIO president Ed Gorman calls "common sense legislation": the Employee Free Choice Act. By putting reasonable time limits on contract negotiations, and strengthening penalties against employers who attempt to intimidate workers who desire a union, the Employee Free Choice Act will put the power back where it belongs: in the hands of the workers who make our state great.

In addition to the statistics that prove the positive impact increased unionization will have on Maine's economy, stories from workers like Martin and Russell prove the need for increased protection from harassment provided by the Employee Free Choice Act.

Do your part: sign our petition to support the Employee Free Choice Act in Maine today: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/millionforfreech

As the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act progresses, more Maine Veterans are speaking out about the benefits they have experienced from unionization. Over and over again, Maine's veterans cite the benefits of unionization as an important factor to joining the middle class. Without the increased health benefits, wage increases, and job security union jobs provide, many Maine veterans say that they would never have attained the American dream for which they fought so bravely.

While the statistics on Employee Free Choice Act show how they improve quality of life for both workers and their communities, there is no substitute for firsthand experience. Veteran Michael Allen's editorial for the Bangor Daily News tells how unions helped him achieve his American dream:

After my honorable discharge in January 1998, I secured a part-time job at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in South Berwick in February. My fiancee and I scraped by in our one-bedroom apartment in Saco; and we hoped I would become full-time someday.

I took the postal exam that summer and was offered a job here in Bangor. I earned $13 an hour with three weeks of annual leave and expanded health benefits because it was a union job and I was credited for my time in the service. My job security and increased earnings enabled my fiancee -- now my wife -- to attend college and get her degree in nursing. She works in the pediatric unit at Eastern Maine Medical Center and is a member of her union. Unions made a critical difference for our family joining the middle class.

Allen's story echoes the experiences of the combat veterans from Portland, who recently added their voices to the growing support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Like Allen, they too found steady jobs with the postal service, and feel lucky to have found jobs in a time where there was a larger union presence. Like the veterans from Portland, Allen sees his fellow veterans struggle, in our current economic times, to make ends meet:

Working hard used to give everyone a chance to improve their lives, but working families really have it rough right now. Our state is now at an 8.1 percent unemployment rate, and good-paying jobs leaving Maine are replaced by low-wage jobs with no benefits or job security.

The news for veterans is not any better. One out of five veterans who recently returned from tours of duty remains unemployed. One out of four veterans finding a job since leaving the service earns less than $21,840 a year....
In the Air Force we had a saying for complainers: "You signed your name on the dotted line." Each of us knew what we were doing when we joined up. If my signature was good enough to serve in our military, it should be good enough to be honored by my government and employer when I sign up to join a union.

By supporting Employee Free Choice, you are supporting other veterans like him who believe in the right of hard working citizens to get the life they want. The Employee Free Choice Act will help Maine rebuild the middle class by making it easier for hard-working patriots such as Michael Allen and others like him to find good jobs with real security, and hold our CEOS accountable.

Tell Senators Olympie Snowe And Susan Collins that you support Maine's veterans and the Employee Free Choice Act today:
http://action.seiu.org/page/speakout/veterans4choice

Write a letter to Senator Snowe to support our veterans and say yes to Employee Free Choice

Last week, a group of Maine veterans gathered together in Portland to voice their support for the Employee Free Choice Act. A recent segment on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network highlighted the stories of three of these veterans, and how their experience serving our country convinced them that passing the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary for Maine and for our country.

All three combat veterans, now employed in the U.S. Postal Service, spoke of the difficulty of returning home from war to a job market with uncertain employments, meager benefits, and no security. The lack of benefits and security available in the civilian job market even prompts some to re-enlist in the military. Says combat veteran Sean Kraft:

"After having the safety of the military, knowing that you're going to have food, clothes on your back and a roof over your head, it's really hard to come into the civilian world and you really don't know if you'll have that, and that's why a lot of people end up going right back in."

Meanwhile, Maine veteran Archie Etheridge empathized with those hardworking Maine families struggling every day to make ends meet. While Etheridge returned home from war to a steady job with the postal service, he saw friends and neighbors who weren't so lucky:

"Yeah, quite a few of them I'd say, probably two-thirds. A lot of people from Maine are self-employed and I would call it under-employed, like doing one of two jobs just to make ends meet. To me, I was saying, well, that's kind of strange. I could back to the Post Office like I never left, because the union and all that keeps my job there, so when I come back I just walk back in and start delivering mail again like I never left."

It's not only Maine's veterans that support the Employee Free Choice Act: the Center for American Progress' latest report shows how Maine's economy as a whole would benefit from increased unionization.

• Union workers have higher wages:
Union workers in Maine were on average 8.6% higher than non-union workers with similar jobs. So Maine workers who are employed in a union earn $1.54 more per hour than their non-union counterparts.
• Unionization rewards workers' productivity:

If union coverage rates were 5% higher than they are currently, Maine's newly unionized workers would earn an estimated $77 million more in wages and salaries per year.


• Increased unionization provides increased benefits:

Union workers nationwide are 28.2% more liked to be covered by employee health insurance and 53.9% more likely to have employer-provided pensions than their non-union counterparts.

So support our veterans. Support our workers. Support our economy, and support Maine's future. Write a letter to Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and urge them to support the Employee Free Choice Act today:
http://action.seiu.org/page/speakout/veterans4choice

Write a letter to Senator Snowe to support our veterans and say yes to Employee Free Choice

Last week, a group of Maine veterans gathered together in Portland to voice their support for the Employee Free Choice Act. A recent segment on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network highlighted the stories of three of these veterans, and how their experience serving our country convinced them that passing the Employee Free Choice Act is necessary for Maine and for our country.

Portland - On Tuesday afternoon a diverse group of veterans came together to discuss the economic challenges Mainers and veterans are facing every day; and, practical solutions to confront those challenges head on.

State Representative and Iraq War Veteran Alex Cornell du Houx (D-Brunswick) was scheduled to facilitate the roundtable discussion; however, he was not able to attend due to pressing issues at the state house.

Sending his regrets, Cornell du Houx commented, "the best way to honor veterans is by creating good-paying jobs that give them and their families a chance at a middle-class life," adding, "a clear solution for creating those middle-class jobs is the Employee Free Choice Act."

Army veteran Steve Sanford discussed his service in Operation Desert Storm-Desert Shield during the Persian Gulf War. Sanford returned from his service and found difficulty securing a good job with benefits. His status as veteran helped him secure employment with the postal service. When asked about what being a part of union has meant to his family, Sanford responded, "we were able to put the down payment on our house and build our security because I had a good union job," concluding, "It's meant everything."
Archie Etheridge was deployed to Iraq in the same unit as his son. He spoke about the fears he felt for his son when they served together, and concerns he has for his son's economic future given the current state of the economy. Speaking in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, Etheridge stressed the need to "level the playing for worker" to start creating good-paying jobs.

With two sons in the Air Force, Vietnam veteran Jim Greenleaf discussed both what having a good union job has meant for his family, and the challenges the men and women of our armed forces face when they consider entering the civilian workforce. He stressed the importance of collective bargaining for better wages and benefits, and called for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, to "to give workers the choice whether to join a union or not."

Iraq war veteran Sean Kraft added his experience to discussion, explaining that when he returned from Iraq security was his first priority, because in the army soldiers are clothed, fed and housed. Kraft feels the absence of good-paying secure job opportunities in the current economy has forced many veterans to go back into the armed services. He also saw the Employee Free Choice Act as way to make low-wage jobs without benefits into better jobs with better wages and benefits.

Each of the roundtable participants debunked the notion that the Employee Free Choice Act takes the secret ballot away from workers; pointing out that majority sign up is already part of current labor law. Greenleaf and Sanford pointed out that the Employee Free Choice Act would merely put the union organizing in the hands of workers, instead of management. Several participants pointed out that the country accepted their signature when they sought to join the military, and their signature ought to be sufficient to join a union.

The roundtable discussion concluded with several points on the state of the economy; and expressed concerns about what kind of jobs would be available for Etheridge's son and Greenleaf's children and grandchildren. Each veteran agreed that giving workers the right to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits would create better jobs for veterans and their families.

Many SEIU members, their children and/or family members have had their reserve units called or are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In honor of their service and in observance of this week's Veterans' Day holiday, we want to share a PSA from our community ally, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), which provides transitional and readjustment resources for veterans.

Watch the television PSA.