As a worker, voting to organize into a union means improved wages and benefits; 30% more pay statistically. It also means gaining the legal right to bargain with your employer over such things as seniority recognition, work assignments, when and how overtime is offered, and safety and health concerns. Simply put, workers gain a protected right to demand justice and dignity in the workplace from the boss.

Without a union, you are typically an “At Will” employee; meaning you may be fired anytime the boss decides that it’s no longer his “will” to employ you. The boss can fire you for dating his daughter, his ex-wife, or his lover. He can fire you for your hair color; or for no reason at all. Employers are not required to be decent, just, or fair. Favoritism, nepotism, despotism, and tyranny go unchecked without a union.

Despite the obvious benefits of organizing to protect each other, workers find it difficult to do so. Unlike other industrialized countries, U.S. employers are provided an opportunity under U.S. law to thwart organizing efforts with gross interference; and 92% of employers use this opportunity.

Passing the EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT will return the decision of organizing a union back to workers. Forming and joining a union is decision that workers should be allowed to make freely, without threat of being fired or punished as if we were children raising a hand against a parent.

Workers are very near a victory in passing the EFCA, but we need more help. Contact your Local Union Rapid Response Coordinator or Gaylan Prescott, the District 12 Rapid Response Coordinator, to hear simple steps you can take to get this legislation signed into law.