New Report Calls for Employee Free Choice; Workers in Madison Agree

Workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain will be critical to rebuilding a strong economy, says a new report released yesterday that examines the effect of unions on wages and Wisconsin’s economy.

Unions Are Good for the Wisconsin Economy, written by researchers Karla Walter and David Madland for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, says that increasing union rates would put more money in workers’ pockets, reversing the sharp growth in income inequality that has undermined our economy.  In fact, if union membership was as high as it was in 1983, Walter and Madland suggest, Wisconsin workers would earn an estimated $503 million more in wages and salaries.

Walter and Madland contend that we must make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain for a fair share of the value they create:

"Passing the Employee Free Choice Act and making it harder for management to threaten workers seeking to unionize would be good for American workers. It would help boost workers’ wages and benefits. And putting more money in workers’ pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy. Increasing unionization is a good way to get out of our current economic troubles."

Workers and community members held a roundtable discussion of the report at the Capitol Building in Madison yesterday.  The event was moderated by Jim Cavanaugh, President of the South Central Federation of Labor.  Participants included Representative Tammy Baldwin, Director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy Joel Rogers, and Director of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin Rabbi Renee Bauer.

Some of the most memorable moments from the roundtable were provided by Ryan Wolfe and Dan Kortte, both of whom are assembly workers at Sub-Zero Freezer Company.  As current members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 565, both men were able to compare their current unionized jobs with prior nonunion work experiences.

“I have worked in nonunion workplaces before,” said Kortte.  “Now that I am a union member I can testify that my benefits have improved and my wages are much better.  Union contracts are the way to build a strong middle class.”

“Every employee should have the right to do what I have done,” said Wolff, Bargaining Committee Member and Trustee of SMWIA Local 565.  “Through my union I have been able to negotiate with my employer for things that have made my family better off.  The Employee Free Choice Act will extend that opportunity to more Wisconsin workers.”  

Click here to watch the entire workers' roundtable as recorded by Wisconsin Eye Television. 
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