AFSCME - McEntee: "Joining A Union Should Not Be Hazardous To Your Job Health"

WASHINGTON — Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, issued the following statement today urging congressional passage of the Employee Free Choice Act at a news conference with the Democratic Leadership Council, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, the AFL-CIO, the Change to Win Coalition, and the United Steelworkers:

The Employee Free Choice Act is about ensuring that workers have the freedom to decide for themselves whether they want to unionize, without risking a pink slip for doing so. Joining a union should not be hazardous to your job health.

Today, the entire Democratic Party stands united in its determination to rebuild the middle class after six years of battering by the Bush wrecking ball. Unions built the American middle class, and we intend to save it from the current right-wing onslaught on our basic workplace rights.

Under President Bush, the NLRB has come to stand for the National League of Republican Businessmen or, worse yet, the No Labor Relations Board. We will not rest until we change our nation's laws, and the federal officials charged with upholding them, so they honor and protect workers who choose to assert their collective voice on the job.

AFSCME’s 1.6 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations – from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers – AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families.

AFSCME is the largest union for workers in the public service with 1.4 million members nationwide. AFSCME represents a diverse group of service and health care workers in the public and private sectors, including nurses, corrections officers, EMTs and child care providers.