1 | House Memorial |
2 | A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging |
3 | Congress to support the Employee Free Choice Act. |
4 |
|
5 | WHEREAS, in 1935, the United States established by law that |
6 | workers must be free to form unions, and |
7 | WHEREAS, the freedom to form or join a union is |
8 | internationally recognized as a fundamental human right by the |
9 | 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and |
10 | WHEREAS, the freedom to choose to join with others and |
11 | bargain for better wages and benefits is essential to economic |
12 | opportunity and an improved standard of living, and |
13 | WHEREAS, unions benefit communities by strengthening |
14 | standards of living, stabilizing the tax base, promoting equal |
15 | treatment, and enhancing civic participation, and |
16 | WHEREAS, in states where more people are union members, |
17 | schools are of higher quality and workers receive better wages |
18 | and benefits, and |
19 | WHEREAS, union workers earn 29 percent more, are 35 percent |
20 | more likely to have access to health insurance, and are four |
21 | times more likely to have access to a guaranteed defined-benefit |
22 | pension than workers without a union, and |
23 | WHEREAS, unions help raise workers' pay and narrow the |
24 | income gap for minorities and women by increasing median weekly |
25 | earnings of women workers by 31 percent, African-American |
26 | workers by 31 percent, Latino workers by 50 percent, and Asian- |
27 | American workers by 9 percent, and |
28 | WHEREAS, workers have often been denied the freedom to form |
29 | unions and bargain for a better life, with 25 percent of the |
30 | nation's private-sector employers having illegally fired at |
31 | least one worker for union activity during an organizing |
32 | campaign, and |
33 | WHEREAS, 77 percent of the public believes that it is |
34 | important to have strong laws protecting the freedom of workers |
35 | to make their own decision about having a union, and 58 percent |
36 | of workers would join a union if given the option, and |
37 | WHEREAS, employers often do not bargain fairly with workers |
38 | after a union is formed, and in 45 percent of these cases, |
39 | first-contract bargaining with the union has dragged out for up |
40 | to 2 years, and |
41 | WHEREAS, when the right of workers to form a union is |
42 | violated, wages fall, income gaps related to race and gender |
43 | widen, discrimination in the workplace increases, and job-safety |
44 | standards weaken, and |
45 | WHEREAS, 78 percent of employers have required that |
46 | employees attend anti-union meetings, and |
47 | WHEREAS, each year millions of dollars are spent to |
48 | frustrate workers' efforts to form unions, and most violations |
49 | of workers' freedom to choose a union occur behind closed doors, |
50 | and |
51 | WHEREAS, a worker's fundamental right to choose a union |
52 | free from coercion and intimidation is a public issue requiring |
53 | a public policy solution, including legislative remedies, and |
54 | WHEREAS, the Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced |
55 | in the United States Congress in order to restore the freedom of |
56 | workers to join unions and safeguard the ability of workers to |
57 | protect their rights, NOW, THEREFORE, |
58 |
|
59 | Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
60 |
|
61 | That the Congress of the United States is urged to enact |
62 | the Employee Free Choice Act, which contains provisions allowing |
63 | employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union |
64 | representation, establishes stronger penalties for violation of |
65 | employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during |
66 | first-contract negotiations, and provides for mediation and |
67 | arbitration of first-contract disputes. |
68 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be |
69 | dispatched to the President of the United States, to the |
70 | President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the |
71 | United States House of Representatives, and to each member of |
72 | the Florida delegation to the United States Congress. |