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Transcript: Employee Free Choice Act Conference Call
This conference call was held by LCCR on April 8, 2009. On the call to discuss how passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would positively impact the African-American community were:
- Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR)
- Arlene Holt Baker, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO
- Hilary Shelton, Washington Bureau director of the NAACP
- Melanie Campbell, executive director of the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation (NCBCP)
- Dr. Steven Pitts, labor policy specialist at the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center
- William "Bill" Lucy, president & founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
We were joined by over 100 activists from 23 states and the District of Columbia, representing more than 54 organizations.
It was an important and robust conversation about the civil rights implications of this bill and the necessity of unions to provide a bridge to economic security and equal opportunity for all workers, with a special focus on African Americans.
Listen to an audio recording of the call (wav), or view the transcript below.
The LCCR/EF Calling for Justice series provides a forum for strategic collaboration on some of the most important civil and human rights issues of our time. You can sign up to receive notifications of future Calling for Justice national conference calls. Transcript
Operator: Hello, and thank you for joining today’s Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. As a reminder, all lines will be on listen-only mode and we will conduct a question and answer session at the conclusion of the call. At this time it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Mr. Wade Henderson so that we may begin.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Thanks, Edwin, and good afternoon, everybody. I’m Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. I’m here today with AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Executive Director Melanie Campbell, UC Berkeley Labor Center Economist Dr. Steven Pitts, and AFSCME Secretary Treasurer and President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Bill Lucy, to discuss the deep support within the African-American community for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Now, the Employee Free Choice Act has been largely written about as a labor bill, but those of us in the Civil Rights community know it is so much more. The Leadership Conference has long known that workers’ rights are civil rights, and that the right to organize is a civil and human rights issue of the first magnitude.
That’s why the Employee Free Choice Act is one of our highest legislative priorities. One of the founders of the Leadership Conference was labor giant A. Philip Randolph, President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and one of the organizers of the historic March on Washington.
Randolph’s role in the Civil Rights Movement exemplified the essential, but too often untold story, that the labor movement, and the part that the labor movement continues to play in lifting African Americans into the middle class. From generation to generation, by organizing unions, working Americans have turned entire industries and occupations into sources of middle-class income, secure benefits, and opportunities for upward mobility.
This is true for Americans from every background, but especially for African Americans. Decades ago, black autoworkers, steelworkers, postal workers, and sleep car porters, union members all, were economic, social and political pillars of their communities. Today the same is true of African-American teachers, government workers, and telecommunications workers who belong to unions.
And they, as much as this can be said of anyone in this uncertain economy, enjoy a measure of middle-class security. The fact is African-American union members earn 28% more than their non-union counterparts. The fact is African-American union members are about 16% more likely to have health insurance than non-union workers, and the fact is African-American union members are about 19% more likely to have a pension than non-union workers.
As A. Philip Randolph used to say, the two tickets for full equality for African Americans have been the voter registration card and the union card. The first card allows all Americans to choose better leaders; the second card allows all Americans to choose a better life. That’s why the Leadership Conference supports the Employee Free Choice Act.
This law will empower African Americans and all Americans to join and organize unions, to bargain for better pay, benefits and career opportunities, and to take their place in the great American middle class. That’s why today we are urging leaders and activists within the African-American community to raise their voices in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, and to let elected officials know that this bill is important to African Americans.
It’s now my pleasure to introduce Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO. Arlene?
Arlene Holt Baker, AFL-CIO: Thank you so much, Wade, and thank you so much for your leadership with LCCR, and your leadership in hosting this call today. I really want to thank all of the participants on the call on behalf of all of our workers, who are trying to bargain their way into the middle class, as opposed to borrowing their way into the middle class.
I want to start with talking about what the Employee Free Choice Act is. The Employee Free Choice Act is a simple and straight-forward fix to a serious problem in our labor law. Currently, employers are able to mount aggressive anti-union campaigns, and coerce their workers in the lengthy time period leading up to a union election under the current system.
The bill would allow workers to express their choice in a coercion-free environment by signing cards to affirm their desire to join a union, without giving employers the chance to intimidate, harass and otherwise compel them to vote against a union. The bill would also increase penalties for anti-union retaliation by employers.
Right now, penalties are so weak that employers often violate the law with little fear of the consequences, intimidating workers and crushing union organizing drives in the process. And finally, the bill prevents employers from using the common tactic of simply delaying, bargaining and refusing to sign contracts once a union is chosen.
The bill would require that when an employer will not come to terms after a reasonable period of bargaining, the contract be decided by a neutral arbitrator. It is for these reasons that the Employee Free Choice Act is of the utmost importance for all working people in America, and particularly for African Americans.
We’re confident that in spite of a massive spending by big business to defeat the bill, our elected officials will recognize the importance of restoring the right to form a union. You know, two weeks ago opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act celebrated when Senator Arlen Specter announced his opposition to voting to allow debate on the bill.
Massively funded business groups had been lobbying Senator Specter and others for some time now to oppose the bill. Some believe that Senator Specter’s announcement was a grievous blow, since 60 votes are needed to proceed to debate, and some thought Senator Specter would provide the 60th vote.
But I want to assure everyone on this phone, the truth is that rumors of the death of the Employee Free Choice Act are premature. There are many other senators, both Democrats and Republicans, willing to engage in conversations about the bill, and we are confident that they will recognize the profound unfairness in our current labor laws, and the need to restore the right to form a union in this country.
We have incredible support for the bill. President Obama and Vice President Biden support the Employee Free Choice Act, as do the leadership in both houses of Congress, along with, most importantly, 73% of the American public, and there are more than 150 grassroots organizations that have come out in support of this vital legislation.
For the next two weeks, while members of Congress are in their home states and districts for Congressional recess, thousands of people are participating in hundreds of events across the country showing the growing momentum and support for the Employee Free Choice Act. This is a top priority for America’s workers, and this is particularly true among African Americans, who have long been strong supporters of the right to unionize.
You know, even Senator Specter acknowledges the enormous groundswell among Americans in favor of improving our labor laws. And as I said, we know that this is particularly true among African Americans. I want you to know that we so appreciate the full support that we’re getting from our allies in the community.
And Wade, we can’t thank you and others enough for your support for the Employee Free Choice, but we must remember that this bill, as you’ve indicated, is a ticket to the middle class for so many in the African-American community, and we’ve got to make sure that there is an economy that works for all, and the Employee Free Choice Act will do that.
Thank you so much, again.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Arlene, thank you so much, and we’re really delighted that you could join us on this call. Our next speaker is Hilary Shelton, Director of the NAACP, Washington Bureau. Hilary?
Hilary Shelton, NAACP: Thank you so much, Wade, and thank you for your great leadership on this and so many other civil rights issues important to the NAACP and all Americans, quite frankly. On behalf of the NAACP, with our thousands of membership units throughout the country, with our hundreds of thousands of members throughout the United States, we are deeply in debt with the opportunity to participate in this great new movement.
At their best and bravest moments, unions have not only brought real democracy to American workplaces; unions have redeemed the promise of democracy in America by empowering all Americans to achieve their full potential within our society. In particular, unions, by the bargaining for better wages and benefits, have helped lift African Americans trapped in the hardest and lowest-paying jobs, out of poverty and into the middle class.
Unions have also been a long-time ally to the Civil Rights Movement in the quest to pass anti-discrimination laws, and to ensure equal opportunity for all. Everyone knows of the March on Washington, and how it propelled the struggle for anti-discrimination laws. But most are unaware the march was heavily supported at every level by the United Autoworkers.
And many of the marchers, black, brown, red, yellow and white, were members of unions, including the UAW, AFSCME, AFT, the steelworkers, and the clothing and textile workers, to name only a few. Walter Reuther, president of the UAW, was a leading advocate for Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
We know that Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King proclaimed his dream, the historic march in 1963, but we may not remember that he gave his life only five years later in support of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King recognized that in addition to anti-discrimination laws, joining unions and insisting on better wages and benefits were critical to economic achievements for African Americans.
Last week we celebrated the birth of Cesar Chavez and commemorated the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. At this time we must not forget that the struggle for civil rights and the struggle for full workers’ rights have always been linked together in this country. Unions have the unique ability to unite workers of all races and genders to raise their collective voices, to demand fair wages and benefits for all.
Historically, employers have played workers against workers, and some employers have even played white workers against African-American workers. The result has been the lowering of everyone’s wages. With unions, all workers benefit, and those who benefit the most from unions’ collective voices are those who are toiling at the lowest wage jobs, far too often, African Americans and other racial and ethnic minority workers.
The fundamental freedom to join and organize unions, the Employee Free Choice Act will improve economic conditions for African Americans and all racial and ethnic minorities, and expand the number of Americans of color in the middle class. And by revitalizing unions as partners in the quest for greater equality, the Employee Free Choice Act will also continue to enhance the Civil Rights Movement’s traditional efforts to stamp out workplace discrimination.
For example, just as we did with the past, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, unions recently played a key role in advocating for a law signed by President Obama in late January which helps to eliminate paycheck discrimination against women and minorities, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Unions have played a central role in securing economic gains for African Americans. We want to continue to work with them as they play this role. This is why the NAACP is placing so high a priority on enacting the Employee Free Choice Act, and that is why I am proud to participate in this movement.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Hilary, I can’t thank you enough for being on the call, and of course everyone knows this is the 100th anniversary of the NAACP, and it’s an especially important time to have the NAACP demonstrate the importance of its leadership on something like passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Now we’ll hear from Melanie Campbell of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Melanie?
Melanie Campbell, NCBCP: Thank you, Wade, and thank you for your leadership and everyone who has answered this call for justice today. It is an honor to be participating on this call, representing the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. Just 41 years ago, Dr. King gave up his life so that workers would have a livable wage and safe working conditions.
As we all continue to take up the mantel for workers’ rights and economic justice, we must remember that Dr. King championed and envisioned an economy that works for everyone, regardless of age, race or sex, for it was nearly 50 years ago that Dr. King taught us that history is a great teacher, and that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation, but enlarged it.
If we have truly learned from our history, then we should know that the Employee Free Choice Act is about opportunity. EFCA is about fairness and access to a higher quality of life for all people. Women in the workforce, particularly African-American women have continually struggled for equal protection and equal employment opportunities.
Often, union membership has offered women not just the added wages and benefits, but the adequate training to compete with their male counterparts. Unions have helped give women equal access to employment, job training and upward mobility in corporations. In addition, unions have provided a security net and protections for women performing in male-dominated industries, or facing on-the-job discrimination.
And on a more personal note, as a woman and the youngest daughter of six to my 80-year-old mother, who was in the teachers’ union in [unintelligible] Florida, I know the labor movement has afforded my family fairness in the workplace and quality job opportunities. The union helped my mother and one of my sisters to fight against gender discrimination and better working conditions.
And even today, one of my sisters is disabled and hasn’t been able to work for nearly two years, and the union has helped her keep her health care, and God willing, she will be able to go back to the classroom to teach our children next year. It has been thoroughly proven that women who belong to unions earn on average two dollars more per hour than women who are not in union membership.
For African-American women, the advantage is even more substantial. African-American women in unions earned five dollars more per hour than African-American women who were not in unions. Unions are one proven way to help bridge the pay gap between men and women, and especially between African-American women and other workers.
Under the current system a woman’s right to join a union is often blocked by employees who go to great lengths to intimidate and harass workers who want to form a union. It is outrageous in this day and age. Working men and women face the same kind of mistreatment and intimidation in the workplace when trying to form unions, as civil rights leaders did when fighting for equal rights and protections.
The Employee Free Choice Act strives to level the playing field for working women, and especially women of color. It also aims to restore our economy to one that works for everyone again. We believe at the National Coalition this adheres closely to Dr. King’s dream for equal opportunity for all.
And in closing, my mentor and leader, Dr. Dorothy I. Height, who recently celebrated her 97th birthday, teaches all of us that we have this responsibility: To improve life, not just for those who have the most skills, and those who know how to manipulate the system, but also for those who often have so much to give, but never get this opportunity.
The Employee Free Choice Act is truly and simply about opportunity. Thank you, Wade, and I’m glad to answer questions.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Well, Melanie, thank you so much. That was a powerful personal story; thanks for sharing it. And you mentioned, of course, Dr. Dorothy Height. Dr. Height is the Chair of the Board of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and so we’re especially pleased that your presentation was made in her name—we appreciate it very much.
Melanie Campbell, NCBCP: Thanks so much.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: And next we’ll hear from my good friend, UC Berkeley economist and professor, Dr. Steven Pitts. Steven?
Steven Pitts, UC Berkeley: Wade, how you doing? Thanks for inviting me on the call, I’m pleased to be here. While this country in general, and the black community in particular faces a severe economic crisis, one long-term source of this crisis is inadequate spending power on the part of working families. We must use this time as a chance to fix the economy so it works for all working families.
And the Employee Free Choice Act is one step in this direction. There has been a lot of talk about the rapid rise in joblessness during this recession, but what we don’t talk a lot about is one of the long-term underlying problems facing this country, is weak income growth. For example, if you examine the median family income for blacks and its growth rate between 1946 and 1973, the income rose for that typical black family by 131%, more than doubled.
However, if you examine what’s happened since then in the 34 years since 1973, we find that income roughly has increased by only 33%. That much, much lower growth rate is the main source of the problem facing the black community and the country at large. I would say that really the black community faced a two-dimensional job crisis.
The very real crisis of unemployment we know so much about. But also a very, very real problem of too much low-wage work. For example, in 2007, if you examine blacks who are working full-time, 42% of those blacks earn less than $30,000, simply 180% above the federal poverty line. So, too many black people have gotten up to work every day, gone every day throughout the year, and don’t make [much] money.
This country needs to find a way to fix the economy so it works for all working people. One element to do this, it’s a big step to increase the spending power of working families, and the Employee Free Choice Act does this. In terms of why we need this act in particular, when we look at the most recent surveys examining preferences for unionization, we find that blacks have a higher percentage preference for unions than whites.
So, when blacks were asked, 59% of blacks said they would vote for unions given the opportunity. When the question more recently was asked about the particulars of Employee Free Choice Act, 88% of blacks said they strongly favor the act. Now, there’s been much documentation of employer harassment for workers, and willful violation of labor laws.
But beyond the question of simply wages, are very, very important… The issue of the Employee Free Choice Act is simply a question of freedom of association, that workers should have the right to join any group they want to join without any interference from anyone else. So what is needed is the ability to [at work] to choose without influence from employers.
What’s needed is sharply higher penalties for employers who violate the laws, and we also need [first-time] arbitration, so the [unintelligible] not resorted by the delay by companies. In closing, the black community needs workers with higher wages, and the Employee Free Choice Act will enhance black workers’ chances of getting better wages and benefits.
Throughout the history of this country laws have been passed which have established processes which radically improve the lot of everyday people. Back in 1935, the [unintelligible] Act set of procedures which assisted workers as they organized unions and gave birth to the blue collar middle class.
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act set up procedures which opened doors for blacks to elect thousands of officials who better represented their interests. This year we have the opportunity to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a law that’ll help a new generation of low-wage workers forge a pathway to economic security. Thank you.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Thank you, Steven. Dr. Pitts, as I mentioned, as at the University of California at Berkeley; we’re really delighted to have you. Our final speaker this afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, is the good friend of many of us, William Lucy. Bill Lucy is the Secretary Treasurer of AFSCME, and he’s also the President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Bill?
Bill Lucy, AFSCME: Hi Wade, thank you, thank you so much for your earlier recognition of the role that Dr. King played in moving this issue of economic fairness for all workers. As the other speakers have discussed, we stand at a critical juncture. Unions have for decades been one of the most powerful forces in our society by promoting economic opportunity for African-American workers.
But the lack of a fair and level playing field for unions under our current labor laws mean that unions’ ability to help uplift African Americans and other works is much diminished, and we are at a time when an economic downturn provides a serious threat to the economic gains African Americans have made in recent years.
If workers had a fair playing field to form unions, then unions could help African-American workers preserve these hard-won gains. This is, for African Americans around the nation, we must make the Employee Free Choice Act a priority, and tell their elected officials and leaders about the importance of labor law reform.
Although many view it as simply a labor bill, the Employee Free Choice Act is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in a long time. We hope that local leaders of religious or civic groups will make members of their organizations aware of this bill, and remind them of the historic role unions have played in passing civil rights laws, as Wade mentioned earlier, and how unions help African Americans earn a better living and achieve more economic opportunities.
Already, scores of local organizations have mobilized in support of this legislation, including, as Hilary said earlier, the NAACP, both nationally and chapters as well as local groups representing other organizations committed to promoting economic opportunity for African Americans and other minorities.
But well-funded business interests are trying to drown out workers’ voices through an expensive and extensive media campaign, lobbying efforts here in Washington, D.C. Our best means to counteract this business-led effort is through true democratic action. We know most Americans, as pointed out by Dr. Pitts, favor the bill, and want the right to join a union, especially African Americans.
We must not let our voices be drowned out by the level of business spending. There are many steps that we can personally take and organizationally take. We must call the offices of our federal elected officials, both senators and representatives, let them know about African-American support.
And even those who are supporting the bill, tell them “thank you” for their recognition of this important bill. But also tell them that we consider this to be one of the most important civil rights pieces of legislation in some time. For the remainder of this week and all of next week, we are in a congressional recess, during which members of Congress will be checking in with their local offices.
We want you to go to their office, go to the Congress to find out where their nearest office is to you, and call the office. Drop them a note to register your support for this legislation. We must tell our friends and colleagues to support the bill. We must raise this issue in our churches, in our political organizations, our social clubs, all of those organizations that we belong to, and any gathering of friends and families that we can speak with.
In a follow-up email after this call, we will send links to fact sheets from groups like American Rights at Work, that will answer questions your friends and colleagues may have about the Employee Free Choice Act. We must also write to our newspapers and announce the support of our community for the bill through op-eds and letters to the editor.
We cannot be silenced on this important piece of legislation. States with large African-American communities are among the most important ones right now in terms of critical votes in the Senate. Louisiana, Arkansas are but two examples where senators need to know that African Americans support this bill and are watching how they respond to the debate in the Senate.
By adding the voice of our community to that of labor, and showing our elected officials just how important this issue is to all working people, we can help reinvigorate our labor movement. In turn, the labor and civil rights movements can continue to make strides to make ours a more just and equal society.
Wade, I thank you for your leadership on this issue.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Bill, thank you as well; we really appreciate your taking the time to be with us. As I think most note, Bill Lucy is the Dean of the African-American Labor Movement and involvement here in Washington, and having Bill and Arlene on this call is really an important indication of just how serious this issue is for all of us, so we’re delighted to have you.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we’ll take some questions. Operator, if you would, let’s begin to get our colleagues involved.
Operator: Certainly. If you would like to ask a question at this time, please press 01 on your telephone keypad to be placed in the question and answer queue. Again, please press 01 on your telephone keypad to be placed in the question and answer queue.
Wade Henderson, LCCR: Operator, perhaps while we’re waiting for questions to queue, maybe I can start the process, and I’ll pose a question for both Arlene and for Bill Lucy. How do we respond to our friends and coworkers who are worried about their jobs in this economy? When they express concerns that the Employee Free Choice Act will somehow make the economy worse and cause employers to cut jobs.
And so they see it perhaps as a potential problem. How do we respond to that? Arlene?
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