Unions bring better lives

The Spokesman Review’s editorial board’s attack on the Employee Free Choice Act misses the point of the legislation (Jan. 29). Workers want unions and our country needs them, yet current law doesn’t give workers a real chance to form them. Rather than eliminate the secret ballot, the Employee Free Choice Act places the decision to form a union in the hands of workers rather than corporations.

Most people who don’t have a union say they’d join one if given the chance. People who have unions earn 30 percent more than people who don’t and are more likely to have health care and pensions. A union contract is the best economic stimulus program for working families.

Unionism is low because when workers decide to join together, corporations frequently respond with illegal anti-worker campaigns. They force workers to attend closed-door meetings, threaten to close the workplace and harass union supporters. Many companies fire workers who try to form unions. These actions are technically illegal, but with current labor laws they happen every day.

Workers want unions and our country needs them. We need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and rebuild our middle class.

James Daniels

Spokane