Free Choice Battle Heats Up On Chilly Capitol Hill

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

"It may be cold as hell out here," said Senator Tom Harkin (D., IA) at Wednesday's Capitol Hill rally, "but we're going to turn up the heat until we pass the Employee Free Choice Act this year!" Thousands of bundled-up labor activists cheered loudly, waving signs saying "It's Time Our Economy Worked For Everyone Again" against the icy wind that whipped through Upper Senate Park as dark clouds scudded over the Capitol in the background. Workers from across the country spoke out at the rally, telling wrenching stories of bosses who tried to silence and intimidate workers who organized unions. "It touches - and warms - my heart to see so many people here," said Theo Jackson, a social worker from Scottsdale, AZ, fired after he and his co-workers voted in a union. Employers "don't want us to have a voice," said Theresa Gares, a school bus driver from New Jersey, "but without us this country would not run." Bill Lawhorn, a forklift operator from Ohio choked up when he told the hushed crowd about having to borrow money from his children after being fired for organizing and having to haul garbage to make ends meet. "I've been asked whether I'd (organize) again. Damn right I would, because it's the right thing to do!" And Sara Steffens, a journalist laid off after helping organize a union in California defiantly reported that "we're still fighting" and that she's now helping negotiate the contract at her former employer. Added Asela Espiritu, a union nurse from California, "It doesn't have to be this way. American needs a change and the Employee Free Choice Act is the change we need." Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, noting that "all the unions of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win are united on this issue" led the crowd in a spirited chant of "Yes we will!" and then helped deliver dozens of boxes containing some of the 1.5 million signatures on petitions to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. With corporate lobbyists mounting a ferocious campaign to defeat the bill, organizers have set a new goal of 2 million signatures before Congress goes on its February break. Click here to sign online.
- Chris Garlock; photos by Adam Wright