Activists picket Grassley's office for union bill
A small group of Quad-City activists criticized Wal-Mart’s labor record Wednesday while urging U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to back a proposal to make it easier for unions to organize.
In a demonstration at the Republican senator’s Davenport office, representatives of Progressive Action for the Common Good of the Quad-Cities and other groups presented a report that criticizes Wal-Mart for squelching union organizing at its stores.
The report, by Human Rights Watch, was released about a week ago.
“Workers’ rights to assemble is a human right,” said Roger Butts, a Davenport minister who’s part of Progressive Action.
He was among five people who presented the report to a Grassley aide.
The report says that Wal-Mart takes advantage of “weak” U.S. labor laws to discourage unionization and that it also violates the law.
It cited 15 cases in which the National Labor Relations Board found the company acted illegally between 2000 and 2005.
Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar said the report was based on interviews with 41 past and current employees out of more than 2 million who worked for the company in that time period.
And he said there were more violations by those seeking to organize at its stores.
State Rep. Elesha Gayman, D-Davenport, said Wal-Mart’s actions point out the need for a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act.
The measure would certify unions after a majority of employees at a company have authorized one through a card check system.
Currently, the card check system must be followed by an election.
Unions say the two-step process lets employers intimidate workers.
But critics of the bill say that it would allow union organizers to intimidate workers and do away with federally supervised secret ballots.
Grassley opposes it.
“The American worker should be afforded the democratic right to a free and fair election,” he said.
“This bill takes that right away and gives a green light to coercion and intimidation.”
The bill passed the House in January, with both Quad-City congressmen supporting it. It’s not clear when it might come up in the Senate.
Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.