Send a thank-you note to Woolsey!

Lynn Woolsey is one of the co-sponsors of EFCA, introduced on Tuesday, Mar. 10th, into both houses of Congress. Once again, our 6th district congressional representative is standing up for us, this time in opposition to the multi-million dollar campaign by corporate lobbyists to defeat EFCA.

Please tell Rep. Woolsey how proud we are of her!

Click on this link to sign a petition letter to her. Or send your own letter by clicking on her congressional link on the right-hand side of this blog.

EFCA issue heatin' up

Who woulda thunk that a piece of legislation pronounced "eff-kuh" for EFCA or the Employee Free Choice Act or the "card check" bill would become the first legislative hot-potato on Capitol Hill? It was introduced into both houses of Congress this past week and, boy-oh-boy, the gang war has begun between anti-EFCA and pro-EFCA factions.

Basically, EFCA "would make it much easier for workers to organize." Anti-union forces, euphemistically referred to by the so-called liberal press as pro-business groups, are playing up the outright lie that "it would eliminate secret ballots in union elections." It would not do this, but the truth has never stopped anti-union front groups in the past from making stuff up to protect so-called pro-business interests that we are told would suffer unfairly under a system that would grant US workers greater rights.

These so-called pro-business front groups call themselves names like the Workforce Fairness Institute and the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace. Kinda reminds us of promoting the corporate testing of America's schoolkids under the banner of No Child Left Behind.

Another misperception being played up by the anti-union gang is that America's small business employers would go under if EFCA is passed. This misperception does have some traction, but that traction is not based in reality. What's really going on here is that America's large corporate employers are using small employers as their Trojan Horse to get inside the hallowed gates of pro-small business interests. EFCA would absolutely result in highly successful US corporations having to broadly share in the fruits of our economic growth, which would cut into CEO compensation and decrease shareholder benefits. We can all decide for ourselves if we think this greater sharing of our economic wealth is good or bad for America.

Here's the truth:

"Under the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of employees signed a card requesting a union, the union would be validated without a secret ballot election. A majority of employees could choose to request a secret-ballot election."

So in other words, EFCA would not eliminate secret ballots in union elections. It reinstates that choice for workers, and takes away an employer's legal right to prevent workers from forming unions using only a secret ballot process. EFCA would simply take away an employer's veto power over how its workers choose to sign up for a union.

The question that pro-EFCA groups would be well-served to focus on is:

Why is it that anti-union front groups are so heavily invested in preventing US workers from getting back their right to sign cards as a way to form unions?

An answer to that question would reveal much about the true intent of the anti-EFCA movement.

Meanwhile, well-financed anti-EFCA front groups (union-opposing industry lobbyists) are "trying to influence" national legislative opinion, targeting pro-EFCA representatives like George Miller, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Zoe Lofgren, Barney Frank, and Dennis Kucinich.

So, where do our representatives stand on EFCA? Barbara Boxer is an original co-sponsor and remains supportive. Dianne Feinstein is waffling. She used to support it but has suddenly developed "concerns about this extraordinarily difficult economy." She is withholding her position until the best possible politically-expedient moment, like always. Lynn Woolsey is a co-sponsor.

Read "'card check' labor bill stirs controversy."

Woolsey blasts Iraq pullout plan as not enough

From the Feb. 28th Press Democrat:

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, blasted Obama’s centrist approach to the troop drawdown. In a statement released Friday, Woolsey called the plan to leave up to 50,000 troops in Iraq “unacceptable.”

“Call such a troop level what you will, but such a large number can only be viewed by the Iraqi public as an enduring occupation force,” Woolsey said. “The faster that we can promote unification and reconciliation, the sooner we can bring all of our troops home.”

Read the whole PD news article here. Haven't been able to locate her full statement yet. Will post it when we do.

Click on the link for Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey on the right-hand side of this blog if her comments inspire you to send her your two-bits.

Lynn Woolsey is listening to her progressive base!

Read Congresswoman Woolsey's letter to Pelosi and the Appropriations Committee, in response to the Senate's beheading of Obama's American Recovery & Reinvestment Bill's funding for "green" technology, veterans, sustaining prevailing wages, school construction, early childhood education programs, state and local government financial asistance, the housing crisis created by our banking system, preventive health-care, and providing health-coverage for laid-off workers.

There's a link on the right-hand side of this blog if you care enough about this letter to send our US representative an e-mail.