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File #: 0117X-2007    Version: 1
Type: Ceremonial Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 7/12/2007 In control: Mentel
On agenda: 7/16/2007 Final action: 7/19/2007
Title: To support the principles stated within the Employee Free Choice Act.
Sponsors: Michael C. Mentel
Title

To support the principles stated within the Employee Free Choice Act.

Body

WHEREAS, the freedom to form or join a union to promote better working conditions is a hard-fought, precious right of Americans, and one which has existed in various forms since the birth of this nation over two-hundred thirty years ago; and

WHEREAS, the moral compass that leads one to support that right continues to rest with the notion that workers deserve economic and legal protections, which enable access to opportunities to realize their full potential as productive employees, and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Congress created a separate U.S. Department of Labor in 1913, whose purpose was to "foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment," and

WHEREAS, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 was enacted to promote a mutually beneficial economic system by extending rights to workers who wish to form, join, or support labor organizations and to employers who wish to protect their commercial interests; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to form a union to protect one's interest also is internationally recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a fundamental human right; and

WHEREAS, the advent of labor organizations has precipitated positive societal changes, which include higher job safety standards, the increasing of wages for workers, the diminishing of race and gender pay gaps, and the decrease in workplace discrimination; and

WHEREAS, continuing to protect a worker's fundamental right to form, join, or support a union is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative remedies; and

WHEREAS, The Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress to preserve workers' freedom to join a union; and

WHEREAS, The Employee Free Choice Act would authorize the National Labor Re...

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