To the editor:

One of the hottest issues facing Congress this summer is the Employee Free Choice Act. It is as bitter and divisive an issue as there is in Washington this term. In fact, this fight may be even more contentious than the upcoming Supreme Court choice.

The Employee Free Choice Act has two key elements. The first is that the act will be a step in making it possible for workers to decide their right whether to form a union or not without intimidation and without having a company executive threatening to fire, demote or harass them should the vote go against management's wishes. Management fears the act because they will not have the intimidation card to play any longer and their employees can gain a little control over their working environment

The second element is that it will give a legal right to union workers and ensure they get a fair first contract. Today, even after workers successfully win a union and the ability to bargain, they're too often blocked from getting a fair first contract. Fifty-two percent of workers don't have a contract a full year after the election, and 37 percent don't have a first contract two years after the election. For too many workers, the promise of the freedom to bargain is out of reach because the law doesn't offer them any help.

The Employee Free Choice Act will provide a process to help first-time bargainers to reach an agreement, through mediation and, for issues the parties are unable to resolve on their own, arbitration. The reason we need first contract arbitration is to create an incentive for companies to bargain voluntarily with their workers.

The Employee Free Choice Act will help us to maintain a strong middle class, which we are losing quickly. This is the right thing to do. The Chamber of Commerce has staged an all-out battle to see that this bill is defeated. The Chamber spent $30 million during the 2008 presidential campaign in an effort to defeat Barack Obama. To this bill, they have committed no less than$ 200 million to see that the Employee Free Choice Act is defeated. I support the Employee Free Choice Act because it's the right thing to do. You ought to as well.

David Willett

Henderson, Ky.