Sheldon Adelson, the casino billionaire, actually compared EFCA to "radical Islam" calling them both "fundamental threats to society." The opposition is so ferocious precisely because the legislation would help to re-level the playing field and provide unions with a fair opportunity to organize workers, reversing the decline in membership unions have experienced as a result of the systematic violations of labor law that have become commonplace. 

 

Three pieces of DSA literature on EFCA have been added to the resources section of our website. The first, Questions and Answers on the Employee Free Choice Act, is in brochure format (an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet that you can fold in half to make a booklet). The second, Pass the Employee Free Choice Act (in the same brochure format) makes a narrative argument in favor of the bill. The third repeats the arguments in the brochure but is presented as a two-sided flyer.

 

It's been two years since corporate lobbyists blocked this bill in the last Congress. The same union busters and CEOs who ran this economy into the ground continue to back these efforts -- and they will stop at nothing to keep workers from getting a fair shake. But with the most pro-worker Congress in years and President Obama's support, we have our best chance yet to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

 

The main fight will be in the Senate; pressure on House members is also important although less critical, because if anything House support for EFCA has only grown with the increased Democratic majority. It appears that key votes on this legislation will be taken in the late spring or early summer, which means that progressives need to continually pressure Congress to support this legislation. The right is trying very hard to sell the big lie that EFCA is anti-democratic, special interest legislation. In fact, this legislation is in the general interest. It is critical to our effort to restore American democracy and to increase the living standards of working and middle income Americans. Strengthening the labor movement by passing this legislation is a central plank in DSA's Economic Justice Agenda.

 

 In the Senate 39 cosponsors joined Sen. Edward Kennedy (Mass.) on March 10th to reintroduce the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 560). In the House the new bill number is H.R. 1409; Rep. George Miller (Calif.) and 224 cosponsors backed the bill. You can take action now by contacting your senator or representative to thank them if they have sponsored the bill and to urge them to co-sponsor and support the Employee Free Choice Act if they are not on the list. Use the Senate and House web sites to get the contact information for your senator or representative.