( CNN ) -- Union workers armed with an estimated 1.5 million signatures converged on Washington on Wednesday , demanding that Congress pass their highest-priority legislation . Union chief Andy Stern wants workers to have another way to organize besides relying on a secret ballot . They are lobbying for the Employee Free Choice Act . The legislation would allow a company 's employees to openly sign a card demanding a union and then , if a majority sign , the company involved would have 90 days to negotiate . The act would also stiffen federal laws that bar employers from intimidating or firing workers who try to bring in a union . But while the battle is just beginning on Capitol Hill , business owners like Dave Bego have been in the center of the fight for some time . Bego , of Indianapolis , Indiana , is the owner of EMS , a company that provides janitors to businesses around the country . The family-owned company has been under fire by one of the nation 's most powerful labor organizations , the Service Employees International Union . The 1.8 million-member SEIU argues that EMS intimidates , harasses and violates the rights of workers wanting to unionize . It has made the company a target of repeated protests for about three years . But Bego said the claims are unfounded , and it 's the union that has harassed him . Watch how company , union are at odds » . He said the union has sent his clients threatening letters for using his company , staged noisy protests , confronted employees , blocked building entrances and released balloons in a client 's building to disrupt business . He said his workers do n't want a union , because they make more in pay and benefits without having to pay SEIU 's labor dues . `` We have several hundred people working for us in Indianapolis [ alone ] , '' Bego said . `` They 've been after us for almost three years , and they 've got only about 10 or 12 people interested in what they said . If our people really needed protecting , do n't you think they 'd be out in mass droves in the street with the union protesting EMS ? Do you think we 'd still be in business ? I do n't think so . '' But union workers CNN talked to said EMS employees are afraid to speak publicly because they might get fired , as Shaneka Brown said she was . She said EMS fired her after she complained about what she said were unsafe conditions . `` We 're not the only ones , '' Brown said . `` There are millions of other janitors and millions and millions of other companies that are going through same similarities or different similarities , but they 're going through things that are not right and not safe . '' That 's why she supports the Employee Free Choice Act , she said . `` When polls show that 60 percent of the workers in America want to organize , yet only 7 percent belong to unions , you know something 's broken , '' one of the bill 's sponsors , Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin , told Wednesday 's union rally in Washington . The option to vote by secret ballot would still be available . But critics say the measure -- dubbed the `` card check '' bill by its opponents -- would effectively eliminate union elections , removing a fundamental hard-earned right of workers and forcing some workers into unions they do n't want to join . `` Card check is real simple , '' Bego said . `` They want to eliminate the secret ballot election . And that is kind of like saying , 'We 're going to elect the president of our country by signing cards . We 're going to go door to door and you 're going to sign a card for who you want to be president . ' `` Bego said if his employees want a union , they should be able to secretly vote for one . He offered to hold union elections at his company , but only if they were monitored by the National Labor Relations Board and involved secret ballots . He said the union did not respond , but continued the protests . He took out an ad in the Indianapolis Star , challenging SEIU to `` fish or cut bait . '' Andy Stern , president of the SEIU and a major supporter of President Barack Obama , said the legislation provides employees who have been intimidated by their employers an opportunity to freely and openly support a union . `` This is n't necessarily an election , '' Stern said . `` This is people wanting to start an organization . '' `` This is workers ' choice , '' Stern said . `` They can have a secret ballot , or they can legally affirm by a majority of them signing cards . '' Stern would appear to have the muscle to push the legislation through Congress . The SEIU was the largest contributor to Democratic campaigns this election , pumping $ 85 million into campaigns and get-out-the-vote drives . The union said 2,000 members temporarily gave up their jobs to work for Obama 's election , and Stern said politicians who made the unions promises during the campaign now need to keep them . `` We can lobby , we can petition , we can use the same things we use in the electoral process to un-elect people , '' he said . Asked if elected officials should be afraid of him , Stern replied , `` Everyone should be scared '' of not living up to promises . CNN 's Marcus Hooper contributed to this report .
Bill would let employees openly sign a card demanding a union . If a majority sign , company would have 90 days to negotiate . Current method of deciding whether to organize -- secret ballot -- would still be option . Comment: