BILL REQ. #:  H-2557.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/12/08.   

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, In 1935, the United States established, by law, that workers must be free to form unions; and
     WHEREAS, The freedom to form or join a union is internationally recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a fundamental human right; and
     WHEREAS, The free choice to join with others and bargain for better wages and benefits is essential to economic opportunity and good living standards; and
     WHEREAS, Unions benefit communities by strengthening living standards, stabilizing tax bases, promoting equal treatment, and enhancing civic participation; and
     WHEREAS, States in which more people are union members are states with higher wages, better benefits, and better schools; and
     WHEREAS, Union workers receive better wages and benefits, as they earn twenty-nine percent more than workers without a union, are thirty-five percent more likely to have access to health insurance, and are four times more likely to have access to a guaranteed defined-benefit pension; and
     WHEREAS, Unions help raise workers' pay and narrow the income gap for minorities and women, by increasing median weekly earnings by thirty-one percent for union women workers, thirty-one percent for African-American workers, fifty percent for Latino workers, and nine percent for Asian-American workers; and
     WHEREAS, Workers across the nation are routinely denied the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life, with twenty-five percent of private sector employers illegally firing at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns; and
     WHEREAS, Seventy-seven percent of the public believes it is important to have strong laws protecting the freedom for workers to make their own decision about having a union, and fifty-eight percent of workers would join a union if they had the chance; and
     WHEREAS, Employers often refuse to bargain fairly with workers after forming a union by dragging out first contract bargaining for up to two years in forty-five percent of successful campaigns; and
     WHEREAS, Each year millions of dollars are spent to frustrate workers' efforts to form unions, and most violations of workers' freedom to choose a union occur behind closed doors, with seventy-eight percent of employers forcing employees to attend mandatory antiunion meetings; and
     WHEREAS, When the right of workers to form a union is violated, wages fall, race and gender pay gaps widen, workplace discrimination increases, and job safety standards disappear; and
     WHEREAS, A worker's fundamental right to choose a union free from coercion and intimidation is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative remedies; and
     WHEREAS, The Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the United States Congress in order to restore workers' freedom to join a union; and
     WHEREAS, The Employee Free Choice Act will safeguard workers' ability to make their own decisions with these abuses, provide for first contract mediation and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties when employers violate workers' rights;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the United States Congress enact the Employee Free Choice Act, H.R. 800, or substantially similar legislation, to protect and preserve for America's workers their freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to form a union.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That Your Memorialists support the Employee Free Choice Act which would:
     (1) Authorize the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union as the bargaining representative when a majority of employees voluntarily sign authorizations designating that union to represent them;
     (2) Provide for first contract mediation and arbitration; and
     (3) Establish meaningful penalties for violations of a worker's freedom to choose a union;
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.