A RESOLUTION

EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT.

     WHEREAS, the United States established in 1935, by law, that workers must be free to form unions; and

     WHEREAS, union membership provides workers better wages and benefits and protection from discrimination and unsafe workplaces; and

     WHEREAS, workers want to organize but cannot, even though today more than forty million workers in the United States say they would join a union now if they had the opportunity; and

     WHEREAS, American workers' right to form a union is routinely denied; and

     WHEREAS, under current law, the will to form a union expressed by even a majority of employees may be ignored or undermined by delays; 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 disappear; and

     WHEREAS, many workers are threatened, coerced or fired each year because they try to form a union; and

     WHEREAS, most violations of freedom to choose to form a union occur behind closed doors, and each year millions of dollars are spent to frustrate workers' efforts to form unions; and

     WHEREAS, a worker's fundamental right to choose to form or join a union is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative remedies; and

     WHEREAS, the Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the United States congress in order to restore workers' freedom to join a union;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that its support be expressed for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would authorize the national labor relations board to certify a union as the bargaining representative of employees when a majority of employees voluntarily signs an authorization designating that union to represent it; to provide for first contract mediation and arbitration; and to establish meaningful penalties for violations of a worker's freedom to choose a union; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress be urged to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to protect and preserve United States workers' freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to form a union; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.