BILLINGS -- Selling people on your beliefs is never easy. Add that you're approaching them during dinner. And that you're a complete stranger to them. And that your views lie firmly on one side of a hotly debated national issue.

You get the idea -- it's tough.

But that's exactly what a handful of pro-union volunteers are doing as they canvass the state to promote labor law reform, specifically the Employee Free Choice Act.

"We need to get info on this out more," said Carla LaFurge, a local business owner who canvassed Wednesday in Billings. "I really believe in this."

Wednesday kicked off a statewide campaign by Montana Change That Works, a project of the Service Employees International Union, to promote the EFCA and universal health care legislation. Shaine Truscott, field director for Montana Change That Works, said canvassing efforts will continue in Billings and across the state for the rest of June, ending in Butte on July 3.

"The big-picture goal is to pass labor-reform laws that'll help rebuild the middle class," she said.

The EFCA is a federal bill that, if passed, would make it easier for workers to organize a union, create binding arbitration if a first contract is not reached and impose harsher penalties for employers who violate it. Currently, employees can vote for union representation if 30 percent of the work force signs union cards. A vote is held by secret ballot and if a majority votes in favor of organizing, the union is certified.

If approved, the EFCA would allow unions to be certified if 50 percent of workers sign a card, without using a secret ballot. Proponents say it would level the playing field between workers and their bosses.

President Barack Obama has voiced his support, but the legislation is facing opposition from business leaders, corporate heads and congressional Republicans, who say it denies businesses the chance to discourage workers from forming a union and that the elimination of the secret ballot could lead to pressure on the workers from organizers.

"Basically, they can come in and unionize and you don't even know it," said Webb Brown, Montana Chamber of Commerce president, in a Feb. 20 Gazette article.

Almost 20 volunteers hit the streets Wednesday evening, promoting the EFCA and asking people to sign a petition or call Montana Sen. Jon Tester voicing their support. As LaFurge, who owns and operates a childcare center, and Truscott meandered through a north Billings neighborhood, they got some surprising responses.

There was no answer at about half of the homes the women approached, but the interactions with people who were home were generally positive, aside from one curt "I can't do that right now." Most of the people they spoke with weren't familiar with the EFCA, but showed interest in hearing more.

"When you put a face to an issue instead of somebody just reading about it, it helps," Truscott said. "That's why we're out in the community."

After the canvassing ended, most of the volunteers said the same thing. People were friendly and interested in the EFCA, and almost half of them signed the petition, to be sent to Tester later this year. They plan on knocking on doors in Billings for the rest of the month.

"It's not about a candidate," said Don Slaiman, senior field representative for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, who also canvassed. "People just want to know more about the issue."