Sen. Jeff Merkley on EFCA

Here is a recent letter from Sen. Jeff Merkley regarding EFCA:


Thank you for contacting me in support of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). It is an honor to serve as your Senator, and I appreciate hearing from you.

I support EFCA because it would help rebuild the middle class in America. The middle class is under assault. Working families are losing their jobs, retirement security, health care, and homes at an alarming rate. Over the last twelve months, six million Americans have lost their jobs, and the unemployment level is the highest it has been in 25 years. Oregon has been hit particularly hard, with unemployment exceeding 12 percent -- the second highest in the nation. And as Oregonians lose their jobs and face exploding interest rates on home mortgages, more and more citizens are losing their homes. By one estimate, Oregon now has the fifth highest foreclosure rate in the country.

In this current climate, labor unions become even more important because of their ability to provide good living wage jobs, health care benefits, and worker protections. Currently, federal law allows employers to choose whether workers use a petition or election process to decide if they want a union. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow the workers, themselves, to decide whether and how to organize, so they have a free and fair opportunity to make that decision. It will enable union workers to bargain for better benefits, wages, working conditions, and ensure that they get a first contract. Employees in unions earn 30 percent more than average and are 60 percent more likely to have employer-covered health insurance. The bill will also ensure that unions can negotiate on a level playing field by imposing tougher penalties on those who break our existing labor laws.

I believe we must give working people a fair and direct process to form unions and bargain collectively to help turn around the economy and begin to rebuild the middle class, which is why I support EFCA. I am confident that employers and their workers can work collaboratively to ensure the competiveness of American business while restoring opportunity to the middle class.

Thank you, again, for sharing your thoughts with me. I hope you will continue to keep me informed about the issues that matter most to you.

All my best,

Jeff Merkley
United States Senate