Betty Sutton: “The Employee Free Choice Act was a great accomplishment by this Congress, a bill that will make it easier for workers…”

“The Employee Free Choice Act was a great accomplishment by this Congress, a bill that will make it easier for workers out there, the people who make this world turn. I stand here in front of you as the daughter of a man who worked in a boilermaker factory his whole life. The sister of a steelworker. The sister of a teacher. The aunt of a food and commercial worker. And these are the people that make the world turn. Yet we hear often that people are not in unions, that union membership is down. Well, it is not because they don't want to be in unions, because we know that being a member of a union and having the right to bargain collectively for fair wages and family-sustaining benefits is something that people do desire and does result in exactly that, a fairer wage and benefits. Frankly, it works for business as well, and there are many examples out there where employers and employees work. But, unfortunately, part of the big reason why union membership is down is because it is very dangerous and sometimes results in the loss of a job if you engage in trying to organize workers into a union so that they can bargain collectively.”