Employee Free Choice Act levels the field

This letter is in response to a letter regarding the bill pending in Congress called the "Employee Free Choice Act." The writer was badly mistaken when he said the bill does not provide for secret ballot elections if employees want a Union to represent them with their employer.

The bill does in fact provide a provision for secret ballot elections if 30 percent of employees make that choice. The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for employees to join together to bargain for better wages, health care, and a secure retirement.

Unions have always been the ticket to the middle class for working people. It's no coincidence that as Union membership has gone down, the middle class has suffered and corporations have gained too much power. The Employee Free Choice Act is our chance to restore America's middle class. We can create an economy that works for everyone, not just a privileged few, by making it easier for working Americans to join Unions if they want to.

The Employee Free Choice Act provides harsher penalties for employers who feel violating the law is their ticket to defeat the employees' wishes for Union representation. I have helped employees join Unions for the last 40 years and have seen employers intimidate, harass and terminate employees for wanting to better their working lives, Current penalties are not sufficient.

Finally, it provides a remedy for settling contract negotiations for the first contract. If the employer stalls negotiations, a third party mediator would step in.

Today, employers delay negotiations for months or longer to wear down their employees' resolve.

Although U.S. and International laws are supposed to protect workers' freedom to belong to Unions and bargain, under today's laws employees are on an uneven playing field from the first moment they begin exploring whether they want to form a Union.

It is time to restore the American Dream for workers in this country. Congress should pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Roger N. Nauyalis

Mount Prospect