On September 9th, 2009, RNs from CNA/NNOC and from across the country, all part of the National Nurses Movement, delivered roses to Senator Dianne Feinstein, calling on her to co-sponsor and support the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Nurses attached notes to the roses describing their personal experience trying to organize in their workplace.

New video by: 47 Artists for Workers Choice

60 million American workers have expressed interest in belonging to a union. 79 percent of them agree they are likely to be fired for trying to form one. It’s time put the era of union-busting behind us. New legislation can end union-busting. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would make it possible to elect a union by collecting signed union cards from the majority of workers on a job. EFCA will provide a democratic process to workers seeking union representation, without giving management the lead time necessary to coordinate an attack on workers’ rights to freely associate and organize.

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Sign the Online Card to Support EFCA! Download the EFCA brochure in PDF

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It’s time for a change! 

Pennsylvania Assoc. of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals (PASNAP) president Patty Eakin, RN (front left) with over 100 nurse leaders from across Pennsylvania and from California joined other union members yesterday to urge Senator Specter to support the Employee Free Choice Act.  After the rally, the nurses helped deliver over 3000 letters written by Pennsylvania workers to the Senator, who had previously committed to supporting EFCA so that workers would have the right to form a union. As the nurses' chanted, "Senator Specter, don't flip flop, unions always end-up on top."

NNOC, CWA, UNITE, and Iron Workers rally in Texas for EFCA.

Twenty-two DFW workers who had endured  intimidation, retaliation, or firings as a result of exercising their rights to organize gathered in Texas on February 17.   They gave Valentines with their stories of employer retaliation to Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, thanking her for sponsoring EFCA in the US House of Representatives.  The event was hosted by North Texas Jobs for Justice and attended by North Texas CWA, UNITE, NNOC, and Iron Workers, union members and organizers. 

Read what these nurses have to say about the union-busting campaigns they experienced on the job, and how EFCA could have provided them a safe, fair, and democratic way to organize without harassment or intimidation from hired union busters:

Eva Buenconsejo, RN
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
I firmly believe that my colleagues and I would enjoy union membership if it weren’t for our employer’s vicious and unethical campaign against the union. EFCA would have made a fair, democratic process possible for all nurses by allowing them to join the union privately and free of harassment. No one should ever again have to endure the union busting campaigns that we did.

Linda Desjardins, RN
Formerly of Aroostook Medical Center, Presque Isle, ME
When our department head of over 20 years was terminated for remaining objective towards the organizing efforts, all of the nurses thought, “If she can lose her job, so can I.” Hospitals can and will fire nurses for organizing, even if it’s illegal. EFCA would provide security for nurses who are looking to organize. The quicker you can expedite bringing in the union, the safer your job will be, and the faster you can make improvements to your working conditions.

Joanne Thompson, RN
West Houston Medical Center (HCA), Houston, TX
All nurses deserve a contract that spells out our benefits and our rights. EFCA is one way to give us a legitimate voice in our workplace. I’ve been a nurse for 26 years, both as management and at the bedside. During all of those 26 years, I have always raised issues of unsafe staffing and inadequate benefits without getting anywhere. EFCA is the perfect opportunity to make my dreams for nursing come true.

DeAnn McEwen, RN
Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Long Beach, CA
We endured a vicious, underhanded union-busting campaign. They exploited racial and gender divides among the nurses and called the union representatives derogatory slurs. As nurses, we’re intelligent and educated people. In treating patients, we gather data, assess the facts, and act accordingly. We don’t need persuasion. That’s what we do every day as nurses, and that’s how we should be allowed to choose a union. With EFCA, we have the power to make that choice.

Mary Sharber, RN
Flagstaff Medical Center, Flagstaff, AZ
Our managers were led to believe a pro-union vote was a result and criticism of their management, rather than a vote to empower nurses to improve both their situations and those of their patients, which go hand-in-hand.  I couldn’t believe that we were living in America in the 21st century, the mistruths and level of intimidation were so extreme. With the money and power behind the hospitals, EFCA is the only way a free and fair decision can be achieved.

David Welch, RN
Enloe Medical Center, Chico, CA
We got the full force of the worst sort of anti-union campaign when our management hired one of the most notorious union-busting companies in the country. When employers can lie with impunity, bribe and threaten, knowing that the penalty for violating labor law is insignificant- is that fair? We need EFCA so that nurses can focus on patient care, rather than be distracted from their essential work to attend bogus “labor law” seminars, or face intimidation from employers or hired thugs for working on a campaign.

A workplace free from harassment, intimidation, and fear.
The Employee Free Choice Act can improve the union election process by creating an environment free from fear, intimidation, and misinformation. It allows workers to choose their union quickly and by majority, so that they can enjoy professional protections sooner. In addition to streamlining the election process, EFCA provides harsher penalties for employers who violate the law. EFCA also guarantees faster and more satisfactory first contracts by providing mediation and arbitration for contracts not settled within ninety days.

Take action today for democratic union elections:
EFCA has already passed the U.S. House of Representative and is awaiting discussion in the U.S. Senate. You can make your voice heard as a worker and union member by urging our next president and the new House of Representatives to immediately enact the Employee Free Choice Act.

TAKE ACTION TODAY:

• Sign the Online Card to Support Employee Free Choice here!
  
  
• Download the complete EFCA brochure in PDF