Labor Activists Protest Chamber of Commerce

NEWS AND OPINION > PHILLYNOW

By Daniel Denvir

Add Comment | Comments: 5 | Posted Jun. 4, 2009

Thomas Robinson of Philadelphia Security Officers Union addresses the crowd at Wednesday's union rally.

Photo by Daniel Denvir

About fifty labor activists picketed in front of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s office Wednesday afternoon at the Bellevue chanting, “Give workers a voice, employee free choice!”

Led by Philly Jobs with Justice, the activists decried the Chamber’s vociferous opposition to the union-backed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would, among other things, give workers the right to organize a union by signing union authorization cards, a process known as “card check.” It would also put pressure on employers to negotiate first contracts with new unions.

Jobs with Justice flyers listed a number of important laws the Chamber has opposed over the years, including the eight-hour workday, child labor laws, the voting rights act and minimum wage increases.

So it comes as no surprise that they oppose legislation that would make it easier for workers to join unions.

Currently a boss gets to decide whether workers can organize through card check or through the notoriously awful National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) elections, throughout which workers are regularly subject to firings, harassment and aggressive anti-union campaigns.

Pennsylvania has been a key battleground over EFCA for the past few months. As I wrote in In These Times, Senator Arlen Specter came out against EFCA when he was still thinking about facing Pat Toomey in the Republican primary—a bill he had actually cosponsored in 2005.

One of the speakers at the protest was Thomas Robinson, a security guard at Penn and a leader of Philadelphia Security Officer Union (PSOU). He summarized the crowd’s message when he said, “They’ve chosen to support business over people. I’m not with that.”

PSO and the Jobs with Justice-backed Philadelphia Officers and Workers Rising (POWR) have been trying to win a union for guards at the Art Museum. A majority have signed cards affirming their support for a union; if EFCA were law, they would have one.

I took the elevator up to the Chamber’s seventh floor office to ask what their reaction was to the protest. A nice young woman on her way out of the office scoured the office for me, but returned to say that it being after five, no one was still around. On my way out of the building, I saw two women with shocked expressions standing by the entrance, watching the protest. I swear to God I heard one exclaim, “They’re socialists!”

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COMMENTS

Comments 1 - 5 of 5

1. Anonymous said... on Jun 4, 2009 at 12:19PM

“GIVE WORKERS A VOICE, EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE !!!”

2. Anonymous said... on Jun 4, 2009 at 02:05PM

“I think the protest was held there because the Chamber of Commerce was having a reception for their youth wing.”

3. Wes said... on Jun 4, 2009 at 02:48PM

“I wonder why the same people who opposed the eight hour day, minimum wages, child labor laws and voting rights are now opposing the Employee Free Choice Act because they want to 'protect their hard-working employees and preserve the secret ballot' (not that EFCA even takes it away...)”

4. Fabricio Rodriguez said... on Jun 9, 2009 at 12:13PM

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