Representative Richard Morrissette

State Capitol Building, Rm. 321

Oklahoma City, OK  73105

Contact: Jacklyn Brink-Rosen

Oklahoma City (March 27, 2009) State Capitol – Today, state Rep. Richard Morrissette called on House and Senate Republican leaders to end their assault on working Oklahomans.

 

“Each day the Republican leadership of the House and Senate are giving big business and greedy CEOs the ability to profit more and more on the backs of working men and women who suffer low wages, no access to health insurance and zero job security,” Morrissette, D-Oklahoma City, said. “In these tough economic times it is critical that my Republican colleagues stop acting as the puppets of big business and out-of-state right-wing groups and start thinking of Oklahoma’s families first.”

 

The challenge comes on the heels of the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, which calls on Oklahoma’s congressional delegation to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

 

“The Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field for working people by restoring that all-American idea of majority rule when it comes to workers joining unions,” Morrissette said. “Opponents claim EFCA would eliminate secret ballots but that is hogwash. The new law would allow the employees to choose between majority sign-up and a secret ballot instead of letting the employer dictate the process.

 

SCR8 and similar measures in nearly thirty other states are the handiwork of Americans for Prosperity, an out-of-state conservative group working to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act.

 

“Our country’s laws that once protected workers have been rewritten to protect and favor the corporate CEOs who’ve caused so much of the mess our country is in today,” Morrissette said. “Unfortunately, it is now harder to join a union in the United States than any other industrialized country in the world and we wonder why we rank so high in unemployment, low wages and the uninsured. Right now in Oklahoma, employees wishing to join a union are being fired and bullied by their employers with no recourse because the system is so one-sided and broken.”

 

Oklahomans wishing to learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act can visit www.freechoiceact.org for the real facts and an opportunity to join the cause.

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