Word of the Day: Solidarity

September 08, 2006

This week an important stride was taken in the fight for the freedom to form a union. At a press conference that included AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack of the Democratic Leadership Council, it was announced that the entire Democratic Party now stands united in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Check out video from the press conference at AFL-CIONow. EFCA is legislation that would make sure workers have a fair chance to exercise their democratic right to choose a union. It would put into place stronger enforcements to deter violations of labor law and help workers reach contracts quickly and fairly through a mediation process, instead of getting dragged through multi-year negotiations. According to McEntee, “Under President Bush, the NLRB has come to stand for the National League of Republican Businessmen or, worse yet, the No Labor Relations Board.” Big Labor isn’t the only one with the NLRB in its crosshairs. Earlier in the summer, none other than Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" (a show satirizing Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor") took on the National Labor Relations Board. Colbert took issue with the potentially disastrous impact a decision in favor of employers in three cases, known collectively as "Kentucky River," could have on workers by expanding the definition of supervisor. Under federal labor law, supervisors are barred from forming unions. Watch the Colbert clip below by clicking on the play button in the middle of the image and have a laugh -- or maybe a cry.