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A MEMORIAL

URGING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO SUPPORT THE

FEDERAL EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT.

WHEREAS, in 1935 the United States established by law

that workers must be free to form unions; 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 thirty-one percent for union female

workers, thirty-six percent for African American workers,

forty-six percent for Latino workers and eight percent for

Asian American workers; and

WHEREAS, workers are also more likely to have health

coverage and guaranteed defined-benefit pensions in union

jobs; and

WHEREAS, eighty percent of private-sector union workers

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have employer-provided health insurance compared with only

forty-nine percent of nonunion workers, and sixty-eight

percent of union workers have defined-benefit pension plans

compared with fourteen percent of nonunion workers; and

WHEREAS, workers across the nation are routinely denied

the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life, with

twenty-five percent of private-sector employers illegally

firing at least one worker for union activity during

organizing campaigns; and

WHEREAS, seventy-seven percent 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

sixty percent of workers would join a union if they had the

chance; and

WHEREAS, employers often refuse to bargain fairly after

workers form a union by dragging out first-contract bargaining

for up to two years in forty-five percent of successful

campaigns; and

WHEREAS, each year millions of dollars are spent to

frustrate workers' efforts to form unions, and ninety-two

percent of private-sector employers force employees to attend

mandatory anti-union meetings; and

WHEREAS, when the right of workers to form a union is

violated, wages fall, race and gender pay gaps widen,

workplace discrimination increases and job safety standards

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disappear; and

WHEREAS, a worker's fundamental right to choose a union

without coercion and intimidation is a public issue that

requires public policy solutions, including legislative

remedies; and

WHEREAS, the federal Employee Free Choice Act received

majority support in both houses of congress in 2007 but was

defeated by a minority of senators; and

WHEREAS, the Employee Free Choice Act will safeguard

workers' rights to make their own decisions about forming a

union, provide for first-contract mediation and arbitration

and establish meaningful penalties when employers violate

workers' rights;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it support 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 signs

authorization cards designating that union to represent them;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the house of representatives

support first-contract mediation and arbitration and the

establishment of meaningful penalties for violations of a

worker's freedom to choose a union; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the New Mexico

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congressional delegation be requested to support the Employee

Free Choice Act to protect and preserve for America's workers

their freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to form

a union; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation and to

the governor.