Illinois labor leaders today renewed their push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a federal bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize

During a press conference today at the headquarters of the Chicago Federation of Labor, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-7), who supports H.R. 800, said he did not anticipate any holdup in the House, where it has already been approved and hoped that the Senate would move quickly to send the bill to the president’s desk.

The bill has languished since it was introduced in 2007.

“We’ve already passed some meaningful legislation,” Davis says of the House, including the Lilly Ledbetter Bill to address equal pay the pay and discrimination. “I would urge my colleagues in the senate to move ahead and act.”

Labor leaders say the bill represented the most significant change to labor laws in four years, highlighting that its passage would be their top priority this year.

“We want to level the playing field, and make it more conducive for us to organize workers that want to organize," says Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Gannon was flanked by women from Heartland Human Services in downstate Effingham who went on strike for 19 months attempting to secure their first union contract. The workers agreed to return to their jobs but are still without representation, said Gail Warner, one of the workers.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Employee Fair Choice Act would amend the National Labor Relations Act by allowing workers to organize after a majority signed cards demonstrating their intent to bargain collectively for wages and benefits.

The bill would also set a firm timetable for an employer to negotiate the terms of a contract with employees who had obtained the requisite signatures and establish civil penalties for companies that intimidated workers.

However, several organizations, including the conservative Heartland Institute, oppose the measure, arguing that it erodes privacy protections for workers and establishes a double standard by not penalizing unions that engage in unfair labor practices.

Jose Hill, 30, a Comcast service technician and member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 21, said the legislation would help more workers unionize because current labor laws allow too much time between when workers initiate efforts to organize and their employers are required to respond.

“By the time the actual election rolls around, the whole idea of going union has dissipated,” Hill says, adding that often companies will attempt to persuade employees against organizing.

Comcast could not immediately be reached for comment for this story.

Labor leaders also argued that passage of the bill could provide its own economic stimulus by allowing workers to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits and directly contributing to the restoration of the middle class.