HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	61
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS the proposed employee free choice act.

     WHEREAS, in 1935, the United States established, by law, that workers are free to form labor unions; and

     WHEREAS, the freedom to form or join a labor union is internationally recognized by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a fundamental human right; and

     WHEREAS, the freedom to join with others and bargain for better wages and benefits is essential to enhancing economic opportunity and achieving a good living standard; and

     WHEREAS, unions benefit communities by strengthening living standards, stabilizing tax bases, promoting equal treatment, and enhancing civic participation; and

     WHEREAS, states in which more people are union members are states with higher wages, better fringe benefits, and better schools; and

     WHEREAS, union workers receive better wages and benefits and earn twenty-nine per cent more than non-union workers, are thirty-five per cent more likely to have access to health insurance, and are four times more likely to have access to a guaranteed defined-benefit pension; and

     WHEREAS, unions help narrow the income gap for minorities and women by increasing median weekly earnings by thirty-one per cent for union women workers, thirty-one per cent for African-American workers, fifty per cent for Latino workers, and nine per cent for Asian American workers; and

     WHEREAS, workers across the nation are routinely denied the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life, with twenty-five per cent of private-sector employers illegally firing at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns; and

     WHEREAS, seventy-seven per cent of the public believes it is important to have strong laws protecting the freedom for workers to make their own decision about having a union; and

     WHEREAS, fifty-eight per cent of workers would join a union if they had the chance; and

     WHEREAS, employers often refuse to bargain fairly with workers who have formed a new union by dragging out contract negotiations for up to two years in forty-five per cent of such cases; and

     WHEREAS, each year millions of dollars are spent to frustrate workers' efforts to form unions; and

     WHEREAS, most violations of workers' freedom to choose a union occur behind closed doors, with seventy-eight per cent of employers forcing employees to attend mandatory anti-union meetings; and

     WHEREAS, when the right of workers to form a union is violated, wages fall, race and gender pay gaps widen, workplace discrimination increases, and job safety standards disappear; and

     WHEREAS, a worker's fundamental right to choose a union free from coercion and intimidation is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative remedies; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the United States Congress to restore workers' freedom to join a union; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act will safeguard workers' ability to make their own decisions with respect to employer abuses, provide for first contract mediation and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties for employers that violate workers' rights; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that Congress is urged to pass the proposed Employee Free Choice Act to protect and preserve the right of America's workers to choose whether or not to form a labor union; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature supports the proposed federal Employee Free Choice Act, which would authorize the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union as the bargaining representative when a majority of employees voluntarily sign authorizations designating that union to represent them, provide for first contract mediation and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties for violations of a worker's freedom to choose a union; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, pro temp, the United States Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Employee Free Choice