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Earlier this week, union members and their allies demonstrated in seven cities across the country in support of Rite Aid warehouse workers and the Employee Free Choice Act. Organized by local coalitions with the group Jobs with Justice, the actions coincided with the release of a new report that argued that Rite Aide’s tactics against workers seeking to unionize and negotiate a contract underscored the need for legislation like EFCA. The proposed amendment to the National Labor Relations Act calls for, among other things, stricter sanctions against employees for unfair labor practices. EFCA’s most controversial provision, however, has been that of the ‘card check.’ Many Democrats in the Senate have already reportedly dropped their support of the provision that would have made forming a union easier. The Obama Administration is also widely rumored to have abandoned its support of labor, whose help it relied on in last year’s election. The ability of unions to demand the retention of the ‘card check’ in EFCA, is only one of many questions facing the labor movement today. Memberships in unions in the U.S. are at their lowest percentage in decades. In times of recession and massive job losses, one of the most important unions in the US, the SEIU has faced internal dissension and taken controversial actions. With this and much more, labor journalist and activist David Bacon asks, “Can labor get out of this mess?”

GUEST: David Bacon, prolific labor writer and photojournalist, host on KPFA in Berkeley, books include “The Children of NAFTA”

Read David Bacon’s article here: http://www.truthout.org/081109R