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Five Reasons Why Our Communities Should Support Workers’ Rights

1. Organizing and collective bargaining are rights that should be protected.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was passed in 1935 to guarantee workers in the United States the right to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Although often manipulated by anti-union companies, the NLRA mandates that workers and their employers bargain in good faith about wages, benefits and other working conditions once the workers have formed a union.

2. The whole community benefits when working people form unions.

Democratic rights respected in the workplace leads to civic participation at home and thus better public policies that serve the needs of the entire community. States where many workers are union members have lower poverty rates, better schools, more people with health insurance, and less crime than states where few people are union members.

3. Workers want to belong to unions.

More than 41 million workers say they want a union. For individual workers, being a part of a union can mean the difference between living above or below the poverty line. Workers who have unions earn an average of 26% more than workers who do not, and they are more likely to have healthcare, retirement and other benefits.

4. Unions help working people pass laws that protect everyone.

Social Security …Medicare… the Civil Rights Act ...the Americans with Disabilities Act… Unions united workers to win each of these important landmarks in American policy. Unions are an organized voice for poor and working families that advocate for laws and policies that benefit us all.

5. Workers’ rights are human rights.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to form and join trade unions. Because the freedom to form unions is a human right, employers, our government, and all of us have an obligation to uphold and defend it like other human rights, including freedom of speech and religion.

FivE WAYS WE CAN HELP

1. Pledge to be there for workers.

Across the country, thousands of people haven taken Jobs with Justice pledge to "be there" five times a year for someone else's struggle as well as their own. Contact your local Jobs with Justice coalition or visit www.jwj.org to take the pledge.

2. Join the campaign for workers' rights.

Join the Jobs with Justice e-activist network at www.jwj.org and take immediate action online when a campaign is hot and your voice could make the difference. You can also choose to receive updates on campaigns for workers’ rights.

3. Join the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP).

Students can have a big impact on workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain. The Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), a joint project of Jobs with Justice and the United States Student Association, connects students to active worker campaigns in an effort to show solidarity and build more power for the effort.

4. Participate in the activities of your local Workers’ Rights Board.

Jobs with Justice created Workers' Right Boards (WRBs) to provide a public forum in which workers can voice their complaints against employers, documenting the problems workers face when they try to stand up for their rights on the job. WRB support breaks down the isolation of workers who are organizing and lets them know they are not alone in their struggle. Community support through the WRB can mean the difference between success and failure in workers’ ability to form a union.

5. Tell your representative to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

When the bipartisan Employee Free Choice Act is reintroduced in Congress, it will help fix the broken process through which workers form unions. It aims to speed the process that certifies whether a majority of workers at a company want to form a union; to speed the process of negotiating a first union contract; and to increase penalties for employers who violate workers’ rights.