Employee Free Choice Act

I've been meaning to mention this for a while. I'd be lying if I said that remembering it now had nothing to do with my cousin Mike.

The Employee Free Choice Act is an act in congress at the moment that would restore the worker's freedom to choose whether they wanted to join a union. It would eliminate current obstacles facing employees who desire collective bargaining. It would guarantee workers that chose collective bargaining would be able to achieve a contract. It would also simplify the process of organizing by allowing employees to form a union by signing cards authorizing the representation.

I remember sometime in 1996 sitting with some friends at Loehmann's Plaza in Sacramento, sipping coffee in one of those hot summer evenings, chatting with a dude who had his clipboard and backpack talking about being kicked out of four area Starbucks already that day. While we talked about organized labor, women, coffee and cigarettes, the plaza security guards approached and gave him the boot. The managers at the Java City (where we were, and probably has been since changed into a Starbucks) wanted him far, far away. For talking. For spreading "dangerous" ideas.

We all left together that night.