Hillary Clinton's Statement on the Employee Free Choice Act

With respect to the Employee Free Choice Act, for me, Mr. President,
this is about preserving, supporting, and growing the American middle
class. The middle class is the backbone of the American economy and our
unions are the backbone of the American middle class.

It's time we passed into law the Employee Free Choice Act to give
unions a level playing field so they can organize for fair wages, safe
working conditions, and the hard-won rights and responsibilities that
American workers demand and deserve.

This is a moment of profound challenge for our country. There's a
deep sense of concern that I have certainly heard and listened to as
I've traveled throughout America. Americans know they cannot win in the
global economy unless the middle class wins. But there is a feeling
that some people are betting against the American middle class, that
some people have assumed that in a global economy, one of the changes
that will have to be made is the middle class will have to shrink, that
inequity is inevitable, that globalization is a harsh phenomenon that
we have to accept.

Well, I do not, Mr. President.

And our families are right to be concerned. In 2005, all income
gains went to the top 10 percent of households. The vast majority of
people--the other 90 percent--saw their incomes decline. Healthcare
costs are up, gas prices are up, the cost of college is up. And for six
straight years, worker productivity--which means how hard people work
because American workers are the hardest-working people in the
world--productivity has gone up, but wages have either been stagnant or
falling. 2005 was the first year since the great depression that
average personal savings were negative for a whole year.

There is a sense that we're losing something in America-- that basic
bargain that allowed our country to succeed: if you work hard, you and
your family can reach the middle class, you can have that American
dream. So it is not surprising that we're seeing the weakening of the
American middle class at the same time that we see unions under assault.

In the early years of the National Labor Relations Act, the majority
sign-up procedure was the presumptively valid way in which employees
could choose a union. Over the years, however--culminating in the
1960's--a number of decisions shifted us to a new regime. A new regime
where employers can choose to require their employees to vote for
unions through a one-sided election process dominated by employers in
order to secure collective bargaining rights. Now, some employers even
began to make efforts to push unions out of the workplace.

Just consider these comparative facts. In the 1950's, companies
illegally fired or punished during organizing campaigns--or they
otherwise violated National Labor Relations Act rights--fewer than
1,000 employees. The number increased to 6,000 workers in 1969, and now
today it is 31,000 workers who have been illegally fired or otherwise
punished for wanting to exercise a fundamental right, one that we
believe people should be able to exercise not only here in our country
but around the world.

As the number of labor violations has increased, we have seen it
become harder and harder for workers to organize. In 1956, unions
represented 35 percent of the private work force. The number today is
only 7 percent. Our middle class, which the unions helped to build in
the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's is suffering as a result. Studies show that
the decline in union membership has been responsible for at least 20
percent of the rise in income inequality over the last three decades. I
think it's probably much more than that, but that's what we can
quantify.

Therefore, Mr. President, it is time we modernize labor laws that
are stacked against working people and stacked against their right to
unionize. Right now, employers have unlimited access to employees in
one-sided union representation elections; employers are given every
opportunity to dissuade workers in mandatory one-to-one meetings; they
can delay votes for years; there are no fines, or penalties, or
sanctions if an employer illegally fires or discriminates against a
worker for collective bargaining. At most, the worker is reinstated
with back pay, an award that is, on average, so small that many
employers regard it as a cost of doing business. And finally 32 percent
of workers who choose to unionize still do not have a contract after a
year of making that choice.

The system is broken and it's not only our collective bargaining and
unionization system, it is our economy as it affects our middle class.

Our country needs reforms that will bring balance to our labor laws
and our workers need the opportunity to be able to unite with their
co-workers to obtain the protections and benefits of America's labor
movement. Union wages are 27 percent higher than non-union wages.

Union members are almost twice as likely to be covered by health
insurance and to participate in employer-provided retirement plans.

Unions improve safety conditions. For example, deaths in non-union
mines are almost twice as likely as deaths in mines where the workers
are union members. And unions certainly provide opportunities for women
and minorities. Women in unions earn an extra $179 per week.

African-Americans in unions earn an extra $187 per week, and Latinos
in unions earn an extra $217 per week. Non-union employees benefit from
the efforts of unions to seek benefits and protections.

That's why it's so important we pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
It is really long past time to enact real financial penalties against
those employers who illegally fire or retaliate against workers during
an organizing campaign. It's long past time to allow employees to
decide if they want to use majority signup to organize. And finally, it
is long past time to allow either employers or employees to request
mediation if they are unable to negotiate a contract after 90 days of
collective bargaining. These changes will finally give employers an
incentive to bargain in good faith and to avoid situations where years
and even decades can pass without a bargaining agreement.

Mr. President, I believe in the basic bargain and I believe that
unions help keep that bargain for America's working people. And I hope
this Congress will uphold its end of that basic bargain; that this
Congress will pass the Employee Free Choice Act; that the Senate will
join the House, which has done so, to give employees the real fair
chance to garner the protections and benefits of unions; and to give
unions the opportunity to help bring workers into the middle class.