Employee Free Choice Act would restore fairness to labor laws

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2009/07/employee_free_choice_act_would.html

by Paul Clark Saturday July 11, 2009, 8:52 AM

The debate about the Employee Free Choice Act has generated more discussion on American labor unions and their role in our economy and our society than at any time in recent memory.
This kind of reflection about an institution that touches many peoples' lives is a useful exercise. Unfortunately, the discussion has been sidetracked by hyperbole and an incomplete understanding of labor's historic impact on the quality of life and work in this country.

At its heart, the Employee Free Choice Act is designed to reform labor law and re-establish the system of checks and balances between unions and management that has historically proved so beneficial to our nation.

For the first 150 years of this country's history, employers held virtually all of the power in the workplace. The result was sweatshops, 12-hour days, cruel working conditions and a nation where some were wealthy, the vast majority were poor and the middle class was only a fraction of what it would become. When workers tried to organize unions to improve their situation, employers used their considerable economic and political resources to oppose them. The result was often chaos and bloodshed that undermined a growing economy.

In the reconstruction of the American economic system that occurred during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress took steps to more equally balance the power of employers and employees. The most significant initiative in this regard was the passage of the National Labor Relations Act, a law that gave most American workers the rights to organize a union, bargain collectively and strike.

The growth of unions in the decades following World War II played a critical role in the creation of the modern middle class in this country. To meet the rapidly growing consumer demand of the 1950s and 1960s, American workers generated significant productivity gains. As a result, businesses generated significant profits.

FULL story at link.

[LWolf]

1. We need to see and hear more like this;

it needs to be just as constant as the anti-labor propaganda that has helped to degrade conditions for working people over my lifetime.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[RufusTFirefly]

2. K & R! I hope all the network TV labor news shows feature this....

Oops.
Never mind.

:-(

[Omaha Steve]

3. Kick