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Just 15 people turned out Thursday for a rally in Fort Wayne to support legislation intended to make it easier for workers to unionize.
The rally, held at Union Baptist Church on the city’s east side, was one of three Thursday at Indiana churches in conjunction with the state’s AFL-CIO. The labor organization is trying to generate support for the Employee Free Choice Act, or “card check” legislation, before Congress.
Kaitlin DeCero, of the Indiana AFL-CIO, said 40 people attended a rally in Indianapolis and 30 attended one in South Bend.
The card check bill would allow workers to unionize their workplace through a secret ballot or if a majority signed cards saying they wanted to unionize. Current law gives employers the option of calling an election.
LeRoy Jackson, vice president of the Northeast Indiana Central Labor Council, said many employers take advantage of the weeks or months between a union drive and an election to intimidate employees.
“People have a fear that if they try to organize, they’ll be replaced,” he said.
Business groups, such as Chambers of Commerce, oppose the bill, saying it gives union organizers the ability to intimidate workers who don’t want to organize.
Gerald Moore, 74, retired from the Fort Wayne Police Department in 1978. Moore said he pushed to unionize the department, but the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association didn’t begin representing officers and negotiating for higher pay until after he left.
“All we ever did was beg for money,” he said.
President Obama said during the campaign that he’d sign a card check bill if it reached his desk.
Democratic majorities in the House are thought to be sufficient to pass it. But wavering Democrats and strong Republican opposition in the Senate might add up to 40 votes to support a filibuster to kill the measure.
After playing in the campaign for the labor vote, Democratic support for the bill seems to be softening, Moore said.
The Rev. Sylvester Hunter hosted Thursday’s event.
“I wish there were more people here,” he told the audience. “But you know how it is when people think they aren’t directly affected by something.”
But every average person’s pay and working conditions are improved when unions are strong, Hunter said. He urged the audience to call their senators and representatives and tell them to support the bill.
Roberto Sanchez, 55, is now a community organizer. But he has been a member of the Laborer’s International Union of America Local 213. An immigrant from Mexico, he has also been a non-union farm and factory worker.
Sanchez said greater unionization would be a boon to minorities.
“They would live better lives,” he said. “They would have extra money for food and clothing and the things they need.”
