Keith Ellison: “let me thank the leadership for bringing forth this very important human rights act. Human rights are labor rights…”

“let me thank the leadership for bringing forth this very important human rights act. Human rights are labor rights; labor rights are human rights. And for the last several years, the only intimidation that has been going on has not been by labor unions but by employers. Ten employees of the Brinks Home Security Minnesota branch met in secret in 2004 to discuss problems with their employer. They feared for their jobs if talk about a union became public. But they decided a life with a living wage, some health care, and a pension plan was worth the risk. They signed authorization cards to have the IBEW represent them. This was in January of 2005. The National Labor Relations Board certified the IBEW as the employees' bargaining agent. That was on March 16, 2005. Contract negotiations began with Brinks in April, and they have dragged on for nearly 2 years now with no contract in sight. This is a company with an average monthly income of $27 million. Why should they work for a company who insists on contracts with their customers but not with their own employees? We need the Employee Free Choice Act to make sure we can get a contract. Thank you, leadership. Thank you very much.”