Frank Lautenberg: Senators Lautenberg, Menendez Decry Senate's Failure To Pass Employee Free Choice Act

Senate bill to protect workers, combat employer intimidation achieves majority in Senate, but not the needed 60-vote threshold

June 26, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today decried the Senate’s failure to pass legislation they cosponsored to protect the rights of workers who choose to join a union.

Article continues below...

"Hard-working Americans deserve the right to organize without intimidation and this was the bill to make that happen,” said Lautenberg. “Strong laws to protect workers in New Jersey and nationwide are critical. Today’s vote offered workers a greater voice on issues of pay, benefits and working conditions and I am sorely disappointed in the outcome.”

“This is an injustice against workers in New Jersey and across the country,” said Menendez. “This bill was offering workers the chance to have a voice, by helping those seeking better benefits, higher wages, and improved safety in the workplace. I am disappointed that too many of my colleagues today voted along party lines rather than with working families.”

The bill, the Employee Free Choice Act, would have enabled workers to select a union once a majority of employees sign union authorization cards validated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) stating they want a union as their bargaining representative. Current law allows for majority sign-up, but only at the employer's discretion. Otherwise, an election must be held.

The vote to end debate and consider the bill achieved a majority of the U.S. Senate, but failed to reach the required 60 votes to proceed.

Union elections are often the focus of employer intimidation and coercion. Employers have been documented illegally firing employees for union activity in more than one-quarter of all organizing efforts. In 2005, more than 30,000 workers were discriminated against and lost wages or even their jobs for exercising their freedom to associate.

Employers also frequently stonewall negotiations to delay a contract even after a union is certified. As a result, 34 percent of union votes are rendered meaningless because the union cannot get a contract. The bill provides for mediation and binding arbitration when the union and the employer are unable to agree on a contract.

Under the measure, any employer caught violating the provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act would face stiff penalties for illegally coercing or intimidating employees.

Source: Senator Frank R. Lautenberg