Davide White says she knows what it’s like to feel intimidated by an anti-union employer.

White, a Resurrection Healthcare housekeeper from Chicago’s South Side,  attended a boisterous pep rally at Plumbers Hall last night with several coworkers. The event was hosted by the Chicago Federation of Labor, and designed to urge Congress to revive the Employee Free Choice Act, a  bill intended to make it easier for workers to unionize.

White says she hopes the federal legislation will pass.  Union organizers have been battling for years to organize Resurrection workers. White says the union would have won long ago if the bill were already enacted, she says.

Raises at the non-profit hospital where she has worked for the past 10 years have been trimmed and several coworkers are expecting no more than a 24 cent raise this year. And the rising cost of health benefits will cancel out the raise, she says.

“I’m not even breaking $11,” says White.

The free choice legislation would allow workers to unionize after a majority obtained signatures demonstrating their intent to bargain collectively. It would also mandate that employers begin negotiations within 10 days of receiving those signatures and establish civil penalties for employers that engage in unfair labor practices.

Currently, unions must secure a majority vote in a workplace election. Holding them gives management an opportunity to advocate against union representation.

For several in the audience Tuesday night, passage of the federal bill, which has languished since the House approved it in 2007, can’t come quickly enough.

Terry Kelly, a Southside mechanic with Local 701, said he was reassured to see so many come out in support of the unions and that he hopes the Senate will approve the bill.

“Who’s going to fix the country if we don’t?” he wonders.

The rally drew union members from as far as downstate, who arrived in chartered buses. Leaders called for passage of the legislation to undo or reverse initiatives of the previous administration and claimed it would be an integral component of the economic stimulus.

Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, openly mocked embattled Illinois Senator Roland Burris, wondering why he had not yet supported the legislation considering President Obama’s support when he was in the Senate.

Tim Dunlap, a teamster from Local 731, of Lynwood, getting the bill to Obama’s desk won’t be easy. Considering the rocky road for the stimulus bill, the pro-labor legislation might have a hard time gaining traction from pro-business legislators.

“I’m hopeful,” Dunlap says.