The Jewish community always has been active in addressing the needs of the millions of Americans falling behind. Wages are stagnant, health care costs rising and inequality growing. The primary cause of increasing poverty is the deterioration of labor rights and bargaining in America. Fewer jobs provide healthcare coverage or pensions and one-quarter of all American jobs do not pay enough to support a family of four above the poverty line. It is neither in our national interest nor consistent with our Jewish values that working people be trapped in a cycle of poverty.
For many decades, solid union jobs played a crucial role in letting immigrants and their families secure decent lives for themselves. Good jobs with the protections that union membership enables are still key to restoring the middle class. The Employee Free Choice Act would make it easier for working men and women to form a union. If a majority of workers wants a union, they should get one. It is as simple as that.
The Employee Free Choice Act opens a path toward transformational change. Adoption of the Employee Free Choice Act would give working people the opportunity to emerge from the despair that so often encumbers their lives.
The Employee Free Choice Act would restore workplace democracy and fairness. It can balance the scales of justice and give workers freedom most of us would take for granted.
This bill is about giving working men and women everywhere in the U.S. a stronger voice and a fair shake. It is about preserving the American Dream and ensuring that the economy works for all of us.
