San Jose Community Supports Employee Free Choice Act

About 30 Union and community members held a press conference at San Jose City Hall on Feb. 19 to support the Employee Free Choice Act and to highlight a report showing how unionizing more workers would help the economy.

According to a new study released by the Center for American Progress, having fewer and fewer workers who are unionized is strongly linked to the steady decline of the middle class.

The report explains that by unionizing more workers in California, new union employees would earn an estimated $4.8 billion more in wages and salaries per year, which would bolster the local and state economy.

“It just makes sense,” said Jonathan Karpf, a professor at San Jose State University and a speaker at the press conference. “When workers join unions, their wages and benefits go up. That puts more money in the hands of consumers and gives our economy a much-needed shot in the arm.”

Read the report

Former Assemblywoman Sally Lieber also attended the event and spoke about the importance of passing the Employee Free Choice Act, which will make it easier for employees to form a union.

“President Obama signed the stimulus package to set us on the path toward economic recovery, but this is just the beginning.” Lieber said. “If we’re going to make it in the long run, workers need their own stimulus package. They need the freedom to join a union and the wage and benefits increases that come with unionization.”

Carmen Vega Martinez, a Head Start worker for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, said everyone deserves the freedom to choose a union.

“If you can join the military and go to war with your signature, if you can change your name with your signature, if you can get married with your signature, then you should be able to join a union with your signature,” she said.

A local business owner, Dr. Hugh Dang, told the audience that having a unionized workforce has helped his business.

“Giving your employees a fair chance to earn a living so that they don’t have to worry about paying the rent or having health care coverage for their families profoundly affects their productivity,” he said. “By empowering my employees with a real voice, it gives them a stake in making my company better, but ultimately makes them happier and more productive workers.”

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