Press Releases

Stands up for Worker Rights

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-4) voted in opposition to the “so-called” Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act. During debate on the bill Rep. Moore presented a motion to strike the enacting clause. Below are her remarks.

“Mr. Chair, I hope all of my colleagues have gotten their tickets for the show because once again my Republican colleagues have turned the hallowed halls of Congress into a place for political theater, or better yet, a circus, and the joke is on working class Americans.

“Today’s so-called Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act is another scene in this unfolding plot to undermine American workers.

“It would be comedy if it weren’t such a tragedy for the American people. Every day, the American people are forced to play the part of the clown Pagliacci. They watch Republicans put on this performance – claiming to want to create jobs, while behind the scenes they work to dismantle the rights of the American worker. And like Pagliacci, the American people must learn to laugh with tears in their eyes.

“Today’s installment of tragic theater stars the more appropriately renamed by my democratic colleagues - Election Prevention Act. This bill would permit employers to delay indefinitely a union election by mandating delays in the union election process and failing to place limits on how long an election can be delayed.  These delays would allow more intimidation and harassment of employees, including hiring union busting companies.

“In Wisconsin, we have seen this song and dance before. Under the guise of deficit reduction, Governor Walker rammed through legislation that cuts state employee benefits and strips unions of their collective bargaining rights.

“Ohio too has seen this horrific curtain call with Governor John Kasich and the Ohio Republican legislature’s passage of State Bill 5.

“But what Governors Walker and Kasich and so many others are not prepared for is the second act of this drama.

“When the curtain opened on November 8^th in Ohio voters flocked to the polls in record numbers, and with a resounding voice repealed SB5. Making it clear that they would not allow Republican politicians to take away the right of hard-working Americans.

“The staging continues in my state – the great state of Wisconsin – where in just two weeks we have gathered 300,000 signatures poised to Recall Governor Scott Walker.

“The American people will not be upstaged by this anti-union, anti-worker and anti-family play.

“Our nation’s middle class is demanding to bargain for more of the wealth that they created.

“Mr. Chair, this clear attack on workers’ rights departs from a long-preserved American tradition of democracy in the workplace. It’s time for us to close the curtain and pull the hook out on this circus act, and bring up the lights on real legislation that creates real jobs.”

To view Congresswoman Moore’s floor statement, please click here.

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