Whose side are you on?

It’s easy to find editorials in the corporate press knocking the Employee Free Choice Act. This isn’t one of them. The EFCA strengthens the right of workers to organize. That’s all we need to know. Both the House of Representatives and Senate need to pass the EFCA, and do it now!

Organizing on the job is a right. It is even the law. But the bosses have found ways around the law. EFCA stops corporate bosses that block organizing or intimidate pro-union workers. With EFCA, deep-pocket bosses with herds of high-priced lawyers can’t postpone elections. They can’t refuse to bargain. They have to sign a contract.

For anyone who isn’t sure whose side they’re on, look at the lineup against EFCA. Both Bank of America and Citigroup—financial institutions that top the big bailout chart—organized anti-EFCA tele-meetings. Both gorged on the housing boom and then evicted workers from their homes. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is rolling out cash for the media blitz to convince Congress to weaken EFCA or kill it altogether.

Last December, the Bank of America and U.S. Chamber of Commerce both got an up-close lesson on the power of organized workers. When BOA cut credit to the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago, causing it to abruptly close, the women and men of United Electrical workers union Local 1110 protected their labor investment and their right to pay and benefits under the WARN Act. They sat down in the plant and locked themselves inside. They were African-American, Latina and Latino, white but mostly immigrant workers—united.

Labor/community demonstrations including lesbian/gay/bi/trans people protected the plant from any police action. Across the country and around the world support came streaming in. Protests hit BOA branches everywhere. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce representative urged BOA to settle quickly before other workers got the same idea. Both came to the table and met with the workers. And they did settle. The union won. That is why big business is against EFCA and why we’re for it. It’s also why workers must not just rely on Congress, but organize and fight for the EFCA.