SAINT PAUL [6/26/08] - Al Franken, Candidate for U.S. Senate:

One year ago today, Norm Coleman voted against making it easier for workers to organize in the workplace.

Unions are the backbone of this country’s middle class - and middle-class families need their strength now more than ever. But instead of supporting the labor movement, Norm Coleman has sold out to corporate special interests time and time again.

The Employee Free Choice Act is one of those rare instances where the name tells the truth. It offers workers a choice — a choice to be represented by a union that will fight for safe working conditions, fair wages, and a secure retirement.

On the anniversary of that awful vote, I have a message to Minnesota’s working families. I’ll stand up to Norm Coleman, I’ll stand up to corporate interests, and I’ll stand up for Minnesota workers.

• June 26, 2007: Coleman Voted Against Making It Easier for Workers to Form a Union. One year ago today, Coleman voted to filibuster the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would make it easier for workers to organize and form a union. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the bill “would allow workers to form a union at their job if more than half sign a card authorizing the union, a process known as card check. They would no longer have to hold a secret-ballot election, though that would still be an option. Currently, only the employer has the right to waive the election and accept a union based on card-check. The act also stiffens penalties for employers who improperly intimidate, harass or fire workers trying to form a union.” [HR 800, Vote #227, 6/26/07 ; St. Louis Post Dispatch, 3/4/07 (emphasis added)]

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