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Hare Accuses Big Business of Lying About Employee Free Choice Act
POSTED 4:10pm 5/13/09 A Galesburg native and local congressman is backing a national lobbyist group who claims that big business is misleading the public about proposed legislation that he says will help workers form unions should they so choose.

17th District Democrat Phil Hare says workers should be able to form unions at their places of work and get their first contract soon thereafter -- both provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act. He spoke on a conference call with reporters Wednesday hosted by the group American Rights at Work.

Hare says workers groups are also concerned about a provision for binding arbitration in the new bill, which he says has to be included. "I was approached by some folks from the National Association of Manufacturers, and they weren't really talking to me anymore about majority sign-up," Hare said. "They were worried about binding arbitration. Without binding arbitration in this bill, it's like having a car with no transmission. It may look good, but it's not going to go anywhere."

Hare says he believes companies now could stall out the bill's passage, any unionization could be decertified.

Hare accuses business groups of spending $200 million on campaigns to, in his words, scare people into believing the act would be bad.

Hare canceled a series of district visits Monday, including one in Galesburg, to speak to a group in the Chicago area about the act.
05 13 09 by Newsroom
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