Unions plan organization push in Texas

[struggle4progress]

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, November 16, 2008
By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News
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WASHINGTON – Emboldened by their role in electing Barack Obama, labor unions are pushing to make it easier to organize workers in states with historically low levels of union penetration, including Texas.

The unions, which include the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition, enhanced their political muscle by campaigning heavily for Mr. Obama, who sponsored several labor-friendly bills during his brief career in the Senate. The unions want the next Congress to quickly pass a bill at the top of their shopping list: legislation that would allow unions to form as soon as a majority of workers sign cards saying they want one.

The legislation wouldn't overwrite "right to work" laws in states such as Texas, where workers can opt out of a union even after one forms. But the Employee Free Choice Act would make it easier to organize in the state, where unions see the potential to recruit thousands of members in the health care, service and transportation industries.

"We know it would incredibly strengthen the hand of workers," said Bruce Raynor, general president of Unite Here, which represents about 2,200 Texas workers ...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-labor_16bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4a6b245.html