“Today’s announcement by House Majority Leader Adam Hasner (R-Delray Beach) and Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples) to file House Joint Resolution (HJR) 1013 threatens to erode all workers’ freedom to decide for themselves whether or not to form a union.

Working families are struggling to make ends meet in today’s economy. Considering that union workers in Florida earn 36% more than non-union workers, and unionized Floridians are more likely to have healthcare and pensions, any path to sustained economic recovery must restore a robust middle class, which is exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act would do.

Only 5.2% of workers in Florida are in unions (only 2.3% in the private sector). Something has to change. HJR 1013 would only keep in place the antiquated system designed to protect the huge profits, bonuses and raises corporate CEOs have been raking in while the American dream slips out of reach for the rest of us.

The truth is, the Employee Free Choice Act allows workers to form a union when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing the union—putting the choice of how to form a union, whether by majority sign-up or an election, in the hands of workers, not corporations.

In fact, the Employee Free Choice Act holds businesses and unions to the same standards under labor law. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be required to seek a federal court injunction against a company whenever there is reasonable cause that they are breaking the law, just as they are currently required to do for unions.  

The Employee Free Choice Act will ensure all workers have the option to join a union without fear of harassment or retribution.  More importantly and urgently, it will help restore Florida’s greatest economic engine – her middle class – to full strength.