UNITED STEELWORKERS

Local 745 - Freeport, IL

Representing members employed by:

Titan Tire Corporation - Freeport Plant

classified employees of Freeport School District # 145

Are YOU interested in forming a Union at your workplace? Click here

Q: Who Needs the Employee Free Choice Act?

A: You and Everyone Else that Thinks the U.S. Should Have a Middle Class

It’s no coincidence that the times when the middle class made the most gains in this country are the times when unions were strongest. Right now, with each of us feeling the pressure of rising costs, stagnating paychecks, increasingly out-of-reach health care, jobs lost to unfair trade, insecurity in retirement, difficulty at the bargaining table and so many other issues that are undercutting the middle class, we need strong unions more than ever.

But today, as Rapid Response has reported in the past, it’s extremely difficult for people to form a union:

	Workers come under intense management pressure when they try to form a union.
	Workers are forced to sit through anti-union meetings run by management or the “union-busting” firms they hire.
	Workers get harassed and even fired for speaking out.
	And, if workers overcome the odds and form a union, it can take years – if ever – to get a first contract.

We need the Employee Free Choice Act to:

	Strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate employees trying to form a union.
	Establish mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannot agree on a first contract. Enable employees to form unions when a majority signs authorization cards.

The more people in unions, the more power we have to rebuild the middle class and raise the standard of living for America’s working families.

Watch for the kick-off of a major national action on the Employee Free Choice Act next week!