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Motion Expressing the Sense of Allegheny County Council supporting the 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.
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WHEREAS, in 1935, the United States established by law that workers must be free to form unions; and
WHEREAS, the freedom to form or join a union is internationally recognized as a fundamental right by the 1948 Universal Declaration of human Rights; and
WHEREAS, the free choice to join with others and bargain for better wages and benefits is essential to economic opportunity and good living standards; 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 benefits and better schools; and
WHEREAS, unions help raise workers' pay and narrow the income gap for minorities and women by increasing median weekly earnings by 31 per cent for union female and African-American workers, 50 per cent for Latino workers, and 9 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 25 per cent of private-sector employers illegally firing at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns; and
WHEREAS, 77 per cent of the public believes it is important to have strong laws protecting the freedom of workers to make their own decisions about having a union, and 58 per cent of workers would join a union if they had the opportunity; and
WHEREAS, employers often refuse to bargain fair...
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