George J. Kourpias is the president of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a 3 million-member grassroots advocacy organization for current and future retirees. Kourpias is a former president of the Machinists.

Unions built the middle class. By standing together, we fought for and won better wages, health care and pensions and rights and safety on the job.

But these things are quickly becoming a relic of the past. Why? There are many reasons, but I think workers and retirees have been badly hurt by a corporate and government assault on our freedom to form and join unions.

Did you know that one out of five activists trying to form a union is fired? Or that 78 percent of private employers demand supervisors deliver anti-union messages to the workers whose jobs and pay they control? Employers routinely harass, intimidate and fire those who want a union. And I don’t think our government does much to stop this.

But we now have a chance to change this. Because of our great work last fall, the newly elected Congress will vote on the Employee Free Choice Act March 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill finally would crack down on companies that break the law and try to block workers’ freedom to choose a union. And the bill would say that workers can form a union when a majority signs authorization cards.

So what can retirees do to help?

First, talk to your children and grandchildren. Polls have shown that younger workers are the least aware of the benefits of collective bargaining. Tell them that those in unions earn 29 percent more than nonunion workers. And that they are 62 percent more likely to have employer-provided health coverage and four times more likely to have pensions. Tell them all that our generation went through to create jobs that could support a family. And how much it hurts to see it all slipping away.

Next, contact your representatives and senators in Washington, D.C. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Retirees have a lot at stake in this fight. We are the ones that helped build strong unions. We are the ones who wore the uniform of our country to help defend our nation’s freedoms. But the middle class we created is crumbling, and the freedoms we fought for are not available to many.

I know we all have at least one more fight left in us. We can pass the Employee Free Choice Act if we take the time to educate our family and friends and our neighbors on how collective bargaining is the best thing we can do to help working families and build stronger communities.

I look forward to working with you to make this dream a reality. Thank you.