By Doug Cunningham

Democratic California Congressman George Miller and Senator Ted Kennedy officially announced the reintroduction of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress Tuesday. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney urged Congress to pass the labor law reform without delay. It would let workers form unions through majority sign-up and would end employer intimidation by providing real punishment when workers’ union rights are violated. Laura Garren, a nurse with the Oregon Nurses Association, knows firsthand that workers need a stronger law protecting their rights to organize. She saw pro-union nurses get fired and was scared to meet with union reps in public, then had to sit through anti-union meetings as her employer tried to intimidate nurses into staying non-union.

[Laura Garren]: "The first time I was invited to a meeting I had told them I’m not confident to meet in a public place, we have to meet in secrecy. And initially our first meetings were done in secrecy, because the nurses were afraid they would be fired.”