<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Consolas;
panose-1:2 11 6 9 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
h2
{mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:18.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
font-weight:bold;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
span.PlainTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Plain Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text";
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";}
span.Heading2Char
{mso-style-name:"Heading 2 Char";
mso-style-priority:9;
mso-style-link:"Heading 2";
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
font-weight:bold;}
p.author, li.author, div.author
{mso-style-name:author;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:477692728;
mso-list-template-ids:912432652;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:1449665968;
mso-list-template-ids:239529742;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2
{mso-list-id:1518497926;
mso-list-template-ids:1039563956;}
@list l2:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="2050" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0 width=480 style='width:5.0in'>
<tr>
<td width=435 style='width:326.05pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>
<h2><span style='color:red'>Human Rights Watch: Employee Free Choice Is a
Human Right<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
</td>
<td width=18 valign=top style='width:13.6pt;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=author>by Seth Michaels, Jan 27, 2009, http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/01/27/human-rights-watch-employee-free-choice-is-a-human-right/<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600"
o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f"
stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter" />
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0" />
</v:formulas>
<v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" />
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t" />
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" type="#_x0000_t75"
alt="http://blog.aflcio.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/hrw.jpg" style='position:absolute;
margin-left:0;margin-top:0;width:135pt;height:150pt;z-index:1;visibility:visible;
mso-wrap-style:square;mso-wrap-distance-left:0;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;
mso-wrap-distance-right:0;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;
mso-position-horizontal:left;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;
mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:line'
o:allowoverlap="f">
<v:imagedata src="cid:image001.jpg@01C98158.F8A52F10" o:title="hrw" />
<w:wrap type="square" anchory="line"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=180 height=200
src="cid:image001.jpg@01C98158.F8A52F10" align=left
alt="http://blog.aflcio.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/hrw.jpg" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2"><![endif]>Under
current labor law, the United States is strikingly deficient in protecting
freedom of association and the freedom to form unions, says a new report by
Human Rights Watch (<a href="http://www.hrw.org/" target="_blank">HRW</a>), an
independent human-rights advocacy group. The solution? Congress must pass the <a
href="http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/brokensystem.cfm"
target="_self">Employee Free Choice Act</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>In a new report, <a
href="http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/efca2009_web.pdf"
target="_blank"><em><span style='color:blue'>The Employee Free Choice Act: A
Human Rights Imperative</span></em></a>, HRW lays out the case for its quick
passage to restore workers’ freedom to form unions without fear of harassment,
coercion or termination. The report is part of HRW’s critical work as
watchdogs for human rights, the freedom of association and the treatment of
workers from <a
href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/15/unions-human-rights-leaders-vow-to-keep-fighting-colombia-trade-deal/"
target="_self">Colombia</a> to <a
href="http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/11/13/time-to-end-child-labor-now/"
target="_self">India</a> and around the world.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The report analyzes international labor standards the United States has
agreed to by treaty, points out where it’s deficient in meeting those
standards and explains how the Employee Free Choice will remedy the situation
and restore workers’ fundamental freedom to form unions and bargain for a
better life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Congress should pass the Employee Free Choice Act to help remedy glaring
deficiencies in current U.S. labor law that significantly impair the right of
workers to freely choose whether to form a union. Workers’ right to
organize and bargain collectively is well established under international human
rights law…the United States is legally bound to protect this fundamental
right. In practice, it falls far short, and failure by U.S. employers to
respect workers’ right to freedom of association is rampant.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>In particular, HRW’s report points to three serious flaws in U.S.
labor law that are addressed by the Employee Free Choice Act:<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Unfair election procedures that are badly slanted
toward employers, giving the employer, in practice, the ultimate say over
how workers form a union:<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>U.S. law also allows employers to refuse to recognize a union based on
freely signed authorizations by a clear majority of workers explicitly
indicating their desire to organize—a “card check”—and
demand instead that a union demonstrate majority support through an NLRB election.
The period leading up to that election, lasting at least several weeks but
often longer, creates an opening for anti-union employers to make aggressive
use of the tilted playing field.<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l2 level1 lfo2'>The lack of serious penalties for corporate
misconduct, including intimidation and firing of workers, and the ability
of companies to indefinitely delay and deter attempts to form a union:<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>Penalties for breaching U.S. labor law are so minor that employers often
treat them as a cost of doing business—a small price to pay for defeating
worker organizing efforts. Under U.S. labor law, an employer faces no punitive
penalties and few, if any, economic consequences for violating workers’
right to freedom of association.<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'>The ability of companies to ignore workers’
choice to bargain collectively by refusing to reach a fair contract:<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p>Even if U.S. workers successfully organize, however, their fundamental right
to freedom of association is still not fully secure because of shortcomings in
current legal provisions governing collective bargaining….Because there
are no significant negative repercussions for illegal conduct…there is
little incentive for intransigent employers to comply with the law.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The message of HRW’s report is clear: under existing U.S. law, the
freedom to form unions and bargain is a hope, not a reality, for millions of
workers. Passing the Employee Free Choice Act will go a long way toward making
sure the United States lives up to its obligations to protect workers’
fundamental and internationally recognized right to form a union and bargain
for a better life.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Consolas'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Win
the Employee Free Choice Act - visit </span></i></b><a
href="http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/</span></i></b></a><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>, </span></i></b><a
href="http://jwj.org/freechoice/index.html"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://jwj.org/freechoice/index.html</span></i></b></a><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>, and </span></i></b><a
href="http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion"><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>http://www.aflcio.org/joinaunion</span></i></b></a><b><i><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>TO
UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to </span><a href="mailto:wmjwj@wmjwj.org"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>wmjwj@wmjwj.org</span></a><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Unsub Workers' Rights" or to </span><a
href="mailto:street_heat@pvaflcio.org"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:blue'>street_heat@pvaflcio.org</span></a><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Unsub Street Heat".<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>[Workers'
Rights] posts opportunities for you to learn about and show solidarity with
workplace and working class struggles. And these events are opportunities for
JwJ members to fulfill their pledge: </span><a
href="http://www.jwj.org/pledge.html"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";text-decoration:none'>"</span><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I'll be there for workers' rights at
least five times a year!</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
text-decoration:none'>"</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> This is the core mission of Jobs with
Justice (</span><a href="http://www.jwj.org/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>www.jwj.org</span></a><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>), affirming that workers' rights are
human rights. To subscribe, send an email to wmjwj@wmjwj.org with a Subject of
"Subscribe Worker's Rights".<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Western
Mass Jobs with Justice<br>
640 Page Blvd #101<br>
Springfield MA 01104<br>
(413) 827-0301 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Street
Heat is the AFL-CIO mobilization program. [Street Heat] is the e-newsletter of
the Mobilization Committee of the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council in
cooperation with the Hampshire/Franklin Central Labor Council. All
Affiliates and Delegates to these CLCs receive [Street Heat] unless they opt
out. Other activists may opt in by sending an email to </span><a
href="mailto:street_heat@pvaflcio.org"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:blue'>street_heat@pvaflcio.org</span></a><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> with a Subject of
"Subscribe Street Heat".<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Pioneer
Valley Central Labor Council<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>640
Page Blvd<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Springfield
MA 01104<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(413)
732-7970<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>