Statement by Edward J. McElroy,
President, American Federation of Teachers,
on the Employee Free Choice Act

Note:  The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last night as H.R. 800.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Every year, millions of American workers want to form a union but are denied this fundamental right due to employer harassment and intimidation.  The Employee Free Choice Act would remedy this injustice and restore to workers the basic freedom to join a union without fear of retaliation.

We applaud Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, for his vigorous leadership on this bill, as well as the 230 co-sponsors in the House—a bipartisan majority supporting EFCA. We are particularly encouraged that the bill has strong Republican backing led by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), a sign that our nation's commitment to restoring worker rights is not a partisan issue but a matter of basic fairness. 

We look forward to the introduction of the EFCA in the Senate by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The sooner the legislation is passed, the sooner American workers currently denied union representation can have a meaningful voice in the workplace.

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