The rally was one of two dozen events nationwide to urge support for the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress to make it easier for workers to organize unions.

"Unions are what built this country," said Walz. "I\'m a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act because it\'s absolutely critical we put power back in the hands of the workers."

Under current labor law, Walz said, workers\' rights to organize unions and protections for union workers have eroded.

Indeed, the Rochester rally took place on the sidewalk outside the Holiday Inn Express Hotel, where 19 union employees lost their jobs last December with one day\'s notice. The hotel\'s new owner fired the workers simply because they were union members.

The workers, members of Local 21 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, have been picketing the hotel since then. Members of other local unions and other community supporters have joined the picket line, urging the owner to restore the jobs of the "Rochester 19."

"It didn\'t feel very good when I lost my job," said Sue Messner, one of the employees who lost her job. "It feels really good fighting back for it!"

"What the owner did to these people is wrong," said Dave Zebaugh, president of United Auto Workers Local 2125 in Rochester. "I\'m here to support them and union labor."

Congressman Walz said he would get involved in the effort to restore the Rochester 19\'s jobs. "We will ask the owner here to do the right thing," he said.

Walz said the decline in union members nationwide in recent years has been accompanied by a widening gap between rich and poor. That trend needs to be reversed, he said, to restore the nation\'s middle class.

"We can move back in the right direction," he said, by enacting the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act:
• Allows workers to form unions when a majority of employees at a worksite sign cards authorizing union representation;
• Establishes stronger penalties for violations of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations;
• Provides mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.

"Sixty million workers would join a union today if given the opportunity," said Russell Hess, president of the Southeast Minnesota Central Labor Council, citing a recent poll.

He said passing the Employee Free Choice Act would "restore the right to form unions," allowing workers to secure better wages and benefits through collective bargaining.

Related articles
Workers rights bill advances in House, but Cheney vows veto

Rochester workers prove the true meaning of hardy

Photos
by Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review

A crowd of union members, community activists and others called on Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Sue Messner is one of the "Rochester 19," who lost their jobs simply for being union members.

Participants rallied outside the Holiday Inn Express, where management fired the "Rochester 19." UNITE HERE Local 21 has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

Newly elected Congressman Tim Walz (above and below) says empowering workers will strengthen the middle class in America.

Polls indicate some 60 million Americans would join unions if given the opportunity, but bureaucracy and employer violations are undermining their ability to do that, said Russell Hess, president of the Southeast Central Labor Council.