'West Wing' actors join workers, members of Congress to unveil "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Ac

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.seiu.org/2009/03/west-wing-actors-join-workers-members-of-congress-to-unveil-new-faces-of-the-employee-free-choice-ac.php


5:20 PM Eastern - March 31, 2009
'West Wing' actors join workers, members of Congress to unveil "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act" campaign
By Kate Thomas

On Tuesday, March 31, Hollywood "West Wing" stars Martin Sheen and Bradley Whitford descended upon the nation's Capitol to join workers, union leaders and members of Congress for the unveiling of a new ad and grassroots campaign, "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act."



The campaign features 50-foot-high banners displayed on buildings throughout Washington, DC, and billboard trucks in states across the country. A different union member is pictured on each banner, accompanied by a quote about why the Employee Free Choice Act is imperative for all workers to restore their freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.

One worker who told her story at today's star-studded event on the Hill was SEIU Local 105 member Roberta Ayala, the "face" adorning the banner splashed across SEIU's building on Massachusetts Ave. Roberta is a teacher's aide at a private organization in Denver, CO and works with teenagers with severe emotional problems, as well as non-verbal autistic children.

"I had always believed a union was the fairest way to work," says Roberta, whose father and grandfather were in unions. "I believed that if we had a union, this unfair treatment wouldn't be happening. I wanted my coworkers to be treated fairly so we could be better advocates for our students," said Roberta, detailing how she and the other employees in her school repeatedly went to management with their concerns on understaffing and increasing safety and training procedures to create a better learning environment for the kids--but were ignored. So they decided to form a union:

Eighty percent us signed cards supporting the union. But the school wouldn't recognize our decision. We filed for an election and that's when management began harassing and intimidating us. They even fired several teachers' assistants--making our staffing problems even worse.

<...> Management continued their intimidation tactics even after we won our election. The facility experienced a 70 percent turnover in staff because of the campaign waged by management...Imagine what it does to developmentally disabled children when they lose 70 percent of their caregivers.

FULL story at link.

[malaise]

1. Two of them were on Shuster earlier

They were very good.

[FLAprogressive]

2. No EFCA this go around. You can thank the Conservadems + lukewarm support from the admin for this