Working people are backbone of America

Larry Murray is the Staff Representative for USW in District 9, serving North and South Carolina locals. He is an active participant in the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and to reverse myths about union members.

“The Employee Free Choice Act is vitally important because on top of the poor economic situation, the playing field is not level. Companies have an enormous advantage in the current system.”

Larry believes that most people are misinformed about what the Employee Free Choice Act means, especially in regards to the secret ballot. “This legislation is not a major change to what we do today. There will not be a big bad gorilla gang of union bosses watching you vote. Workers will still have the privacy to vote in their own way.”

Larry points out that 80% of North Carolina residents would vote for a union if not for fear of harassment and intimidation. “The intimidation tactics are outlandish,” says Larry. “Management says things like, ‘if you vote for a union, we’ll close the plant’ or they threaten to take away your health care benefits. Sometimes they make nice promises, or maybe even give a small raise in the midst of a union organizing campaign. It’s just a gimmick. People won’t vote for fear of losing their jobs.”

I asked Larry about the USW and their contribution to the EFCA campaign. “Our president Leo Gerard has made it a top priority. Staff members work additional house on top of contract negotiations to make time for the Employee Free Choice Act. We do it with pride.”

Larry hopes that promoting the Employee Free Choice Act will help change the public image of unions. “Union folks have been demonized by the far right,” he says. “But we are a prominent part of communities. We go to church. We coach Pop Warner football. We are not the big gorilla in the room.”

Larry ends on a hopeful message. “I see this country slowly coming around to the fact that working people are America’s backbone. I am optimistic that perceptions will change and we will be able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”