Five members of the U.S. House of Representatives have urged Quebecor World Inc. to respect workers' right to form a union by refraining from threats, harassment, and intimidation in a letter sent to Quebecor World's chief executive officer.

Quebecor World workers are trying to form a union with the Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU) as part of the campaign.

Reps. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Major Owens (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), William Clay (D-Mo.), and Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) all sit on the Special Panel on Postal Reform and Oversight of the House Government Reform Committee. The panel is considering legislation on postal reform. Quebecor World is the world's second largest commercial printer and one of the United States Postal Service's largest customers.

"It concerns us deeply that your company has violated U.S. federal labor law in previous organizing campaigns and is actively engaged in an effort to stop non-union employees from organizing with the GCIU," the members of Congress wrote. "It is our belief that employees cannot freely exercise their right to join a union in an environment where employers are coercing or trying to sway employee opinion."

The letter came just one week after Quebecor World workers and the GCIU filed 22 unfair labor practice charges against the company at the National Labor Relations Board. The charges allege that Quebecor World unlawfully disciplined and fired workers in retaliation for participating in pro-union activities, threatened job loss for union supporters, engaged in surveillance of union activity, forced workers to campaign against forming a union, discriminated against union activists, and prevented the distribution of union literature.

"We believe that a card-check/neutrality agreement in which ground rules for Quebecor World and the union's behavior are clearly articulated would be the best option for determining whether or not employees wish to be represented by a union," the representatives wrote.

"We applaud these members of Congress for supporting the rights of Quebecor workers to form a union–free from management harassment and intimidation," said Larry Martinez, a GCIU vice president. "It's time for Quebecor World management to start treating its employees with the respect and dignity they deserve."

Quebecor World, a market leader in catalogues, magazines, and direct mail, claims to represent 16 percent of the U.S. Postal Service's total volume by weight. The USPS has authorized Quebecor World's Trenton, N.J., and Midland, Mich., mailing centers to participate in its Periodical Co-palletization Program. The company and the printing industry are seeking postal service reform legislation in the U.S. Congress.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry also issued a statement in support of Quebecor World workers' right to form a union earlier in the year.

The campaign, launched in December 2003, is an unprecedented effort by Quebecor workers and their unions throughout the world to win basic human rights on the job at Quebecor World' s facilities worldwide. These rights, which are covered in the conventions and declarations of the International Labor Organization, include the right to organize a union free from management interference, the right to engage in collective bargaining, and the right to a safe and healthy workplace.