00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to support the freedom to choose unions.                                              
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS, in 1935, the United States established, by law, that workers must be free                              
04 to form unions; and                                                                                                     
05       WHEREAS the freedom to form or join a union is internationally recognized by the                                
06 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a fundamental human right; and                                            
07       WHEREAS the free choice to join with others and bargain for better wages and                                    
08 benefits is essential to economic opportunity and good living standards; and                                            
09       WHEREAS unions benefit communities by strengthening living standards, stabilizing                               
10 tax bases, promoting equal treatment, and enhancing civic participation; and                                            
11       WHEREAS states in which more people are union members are states with higher                                    
12 wages, better benefits, and better schools; and                                                                         
13       WHEREAS union workers receive better wages and benefits, with union workers                                     
14 earning 29 percent more than workers without unions, are 35 percent more likely to have                                 
15 access to health insurance, and are four times more likely to have access to guaranteed                                 
16 defined benefit pension; and                                                                                            

01       WHEREAS unions help raise workers' pay and narrow the income gap for minorities                                 
02 and women, increasing median weekly earnings by 31 percent for union women workers, 31                                  
03 percent for African-American workers, 50 percent for Latino workers, and nine percent for                               
04 Asian American workers; and                                                                                             
05       WHEREAS workers across the nation are routinely denied the freedom to form                                      
06 unions and bargain for a better life, with 25 percent of private-sector employers illegally firing                      
07 at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns; and                                                 
08       WHEREAS 77 percent of the public believes it is important to have strong laws                                   
09 protecting the freedom of workers to make their own decisions about having unions; and                                  
10       WHEREAS 58 percent of workers would join a union if they had the chance; and                                    
11       WHEREAS, each year, millions of dollars are spent to frustrate workers' efforts to                            
12 form unions, and most violations of workers' freedom to choose a union occur behind closed                              
13 doors, with 78 percent of employers forcing employees to attend mandatory anti-union                                    
14 meetings; and                                                                                                           
15       WHEREAS, when the right of workers to form unions is violated, wages fall, race                                 
16 and gender pay gaps widen, workplace discrimination increases, and job safety standards                                 
17 disappear; and                                                                                                          
18       WHEREAS a worker's fundamental right to choose a union, free from coercion and                                  
19 intimidation, is a public issue that requires public policy solutions, including legislative                            
20 remedies; and                                                                                                           
21       WHEREAS the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 has been introduced in the United                                  
22 States Congress in order to restore workers' freedom to join a union; and                                               
23       WHEREAS the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 would safeguard workers' ability                                   
24 to make their own decisions regarding unions, provide for first contract mediation and                                  
25 arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties for employers that violate workers' rights;                             
26       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the Employee Free                                     
27 Choice Act of 2007, which would authorize the National Labor Relations Board to certify a                               
28 union as the bargaining representative when a majority of employees voluntarily sign                                    
29 authorizations designating that union to represent them, provide for first contract mediation                           
30 and arbitration, and establish meaningful penalties for violations of a worker's freedom to                             
31 choose a union; and be it                                                                                               

01       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
02 Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 to protect and preserve the freedom                               
03 of America's workers to choose whether or not to form unions.                                                           
04       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
05 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
06 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Elaine Chao, United States Secretary of                                 
07 Labor; the Honorable George Miller, U.S. Representative; and the Honorable Ted Stevens and                              
08 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                          
09 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.