Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following floor statement for the record regarding his vote opposing H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act.  H.R. 3094 passed the House by a vote of 235 to 188.
 
“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act.  This bill should be defeated because it does nothing to help create jobs or put this country back on the path to sustainable economic recovery.  Rather, H.R. 3094 is an unconscionable assault on the right of every American worker to organize, a right that I have defended for my entire congressional career.

“The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act is a partisan reaction to a recent rulemaking by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concerning union elections.  This one-sided bill carries on in the fine Republican tradition of stifling any attempt of working men and women to gain any leverage on management by unionizing.  This frightens my Republican colleagues to no end, and while they will tell you that H.R. 3094 allows workers equal opportunity to hear both sides of the story, the hard truth of the matter is it will not.  The bill we consider today allows employers to use all manner of litigious rascality to postpone union elections and fire workers for objecting to having to listen to anti-union propaganda.  That is neither democratic nor fair, and is certainly undeserving of our support at a time when our country’s middle class is being decimated. 

“Vote down this bill, and stand up for America’s working families.  I yield back the balance of my time.”

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