Union picketers target Chamber's breakfast

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July 16, 2009

By Ethan Forman The Salem News Thu Jul 16, 2009, 09:02 AM EDT

SALEM — Those entering the North Shore Chamber of Commerce's breakfast at the Salem Waterfront Hotel were greeted not only with eggs, bacon and muffins yesterday morning, but with eight union members picketing against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act.

The board of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, the third largest chamber in the state, has also unanimously opposed the bill in a vote taken in April.

The act would allow unions to form without workers having to hold a secret ballot election if a majority of workers sign cards to do so.

"The North Shore Chamber of Commerce is not opposed to labor unions and supports the rights of employees to bargain collectively if such a choice is made freely and by a process that minimizes the possibility of coercion by either party," said a letter from North Shore Chamber President Robert Bradford to Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, in April.

"The Chamber does, however, oppose the burdens this proposed legislation, if enacted, would have on business."

Members of the North Shore Labor Council, Jobs with Justice and IUE-CWA Local 201 conducted the informational picket, handing out fliers urging chamber members to support the bill, now before Congress.

"We believe our economy will work better if people have a right to join unions," said Alex Brown, vice president of IUE-CWA Local 201 and a member of the North Shore Labor Council.

While the so-called "card check" bill is backed by the labor movement, it is mostly opposed by the business community. The U.S. Chamber is concerned it could make businesses less competitive and lead to coercion of workers to join a union.

"I told them (the picketers) the chamber stands with the labor force," said Wayne Burton, the chamber's chairman and president of North Shore Community College.

"We are not against labor," Bradford said.

Burton told members yesterday the board was "overwhelmingly opposed to the voting method in that bill."

Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salemnews.com.

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