Philadelphia-Area Rabbis and Rabbinical Students Speak out for Employee Free Choice Act
{Any rabbis or rabbinical students interested in adding their names to this letter, click here.}
Dear Senator Specter:
We, the undersigned rabbis and rabbinical students, write to express our strong support for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Every major religion is sympathetic to the laborer. Judaism was early among the major religions in its assertion that labor involved more than mere economic activity. The commandment to observe the Sabbath was as much an affirmation of human dignity as of divine authority. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work." But the seventh day was to be holy--holy in the eyes of God, but equally important--holy in its respect for all who work. As it is written in Deuteronomy: "You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, but you must pay him his wages on the same day, for he is needy and urgently depends on it." (24:14-15)
It is not always easy to translate the sanctity of labor into terms that have meaning today, a time in which the marketplace seems to have been elevated above all other holy altars. We believe that the Employee Free Choice Act presents an opportunity to give concrete meaning to the often frustrated dream of a just society.
To be sure, the Act is targeted with a smear campaign because it provides an effective and concrete way for workers to form and join unions. And it opens a path toward transformational change. Adoption of the Employee Free Choice Act would give working people the strength and the opportunity to emerge from the despair that so often encumbers their lives. It is no accident that deepening inequality has accompanied the 40-year assault on workers' right to organize; most economists now agree that the growing gap between rich and poor in our country has been an important factor underlying the current recession. The Employee Free Choice Act would help to reestablish a sense of balance in our economic system.
As you know, current federal labor law typically requires that workers vote at least twice for union representation --once by signing a union authorization card, and then a second time in a so-called "secret ballot" election. In practice, workers who want to form a union are often met with a concerted campaign by the employer to undermine the organizing effort. Because the union has no access to the workplace, the employer starts from a very advantageous position, which it often exploits to crush the aspirations of the workers.
Imagine, Senator, a political election in which Candidate A has total and exclusive access to the voters for 8 hours a day and can require voters to attend meetings at which he tells the voters all the reasons why voting for Candidate B would be bad for them and their community. Meanwhile, Candidate B has little or no information about who the voters are, can only have access to them by chasing them down individually at the beginning or end of each day, and has no systematic means for rebutting Candidate A's claims.
Imagine further, Senator, that Candidate A was found to have violated the law by intimidating voters or firing those who expressed support for Candidate B. And that the penalty for flagrant violations of the law consisted merely of a requirement to publicly apologize, months after the fact.
Senator, would you call such an election "free and fair"? Of course not. Yet that imaginary scenario mirrors the current NLRB election process. It is a broken process, a process that has been steadily eroded by a multi-billion dollar "union avoidance" industry. Why would any employer abide by labor law when the costs of non-compliance are so low?
The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to decide how they want to form a union, free from fear of reprisal. It would require employers to recognize and bargain after the workers obtain a simple majority on duly signed and authenticated union authorization cards. It would provide real penalties for violations of the law. It would require that the parties achieve a first contract in 90 days.
The Employee Free Choice Act would, in sum, restore workplace democracy and fairness. It is a way of balancing the scales of justice, of giving workers rights that most of us would take for granted.
Thus, we urge you, Senator Specter, to add your name to the growing list of sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act. It is the right thing to do.
Rabbi Marjorie Berman
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy
Tzedek v'Shalom, Newton, Pa.
Rabbi Reba Carmel
Philadelphia, PA
Rabbi Meryl M. Crean
Elkins Park, Pa.
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Jonathan Gerard
Easton, Pa.
Rabbi Gail Glicksman
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Shai Gluskin
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rabbi Leonard Gordon
Germantown Jewish Centre
Rabbi Erin Hirsh
Director of Education
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Rabbi Linda Holtzman
Mishkan Shalom
S. Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Academic Dean, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Myriam Klotz
The Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Rabbi Yaacov Kravitz
Melrose Park, Pa.
Rabbi Alan Lapayover
Congregation Tiferes B'nai Israel
Rabbi Yael Levy
Mishkan Shalom
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rabbi Yitzhak Nates
The Narberth Havurah
Dr. Adina Newberg
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Hava L. Pell
Camp Hill, Pa.
Rabbi Linda Potemken
Congregation Beth Israel
Media, Pa.
Rabbi Amber Powers
Dean of Admissions and Recruitment,
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Issac Saposnik
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rabbi Rav Soloff
Landsdale, Pa.
Rabbi Margot Stein
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
Rabbi Jeff Sultar
Beth Am Israel, Penn Valley, Pa.
Rabbi David A. Teutsch
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Rabbi Joshua Waxman
Or Hadash, Fort Washington, PA
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center
Rabbi Avi Winokur
Society Hill Synagogue
RABBINICAL STUDENTS, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Joshua Bolton
Benjamin Davis
Isabel De Konick
Boris Dolin
Brian Fink
Ilanit Goldberg
Rebecca Gould
Ari Hendin
Leslie Hilgeman
Shulamit Izen
Daria Jacobs-Velde
Joshua Jacobs-Velde
David Katz
Saul Oresky
Malka Packer
Danielle Parmenter
Michael Ramberg
Michael Ross
Jessica Shimberg
Alanna Sklover
Neora Snitz
Erica Steelman
Rachel S. Weiss
Alissa Wise
NOTE: Institutions for identification purposes only