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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Sen. Wellstone: Legislation to Advance Working Men and Women’s Right To Organize |
Current rating: 0 |
by Jim Farrell/Allison Dobson
(No verified email address)
Phone: 202/224-8440 |
28 Jun 2001
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Locally, Supervalu, based in Minnesota, got away with the kind of tactics this bill addresses. Supervalu fired more than 150 workers in its Urbana transportation dept just over two years ago for union organizing and got away with it. This, in spite of the fact that the dept. head was unwilling to lie for the company and volunteered to testify about Supervalu's lawbreaking to the NLRB, who prevented him from testifying. The company brought in to take these jobs, supposedly independent Brisk Transportation, is owned by the brother-in-law of the chairman of the board of Supervalu. ML |
Wellstone Pushes Legislation to Advance Working Men and Women’s Right To Organize Bill Takes on Union-Busting Practices, Intimidation of Workers WASHINGTON - June 26 - U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), a staunch advocate for labor protections, today introduced groundbreaking legislation to strengthen the basic rights of workers to organize and to join a union. The Right-to-Organize Act of 2001 addresses the serious shortcomings of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that, over the years, have eroded the framework of worker empowerment which the NLRA was designed to ensure. Wellstone, now Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training with jurisdiction over the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), said the bill will shore up the crumbling foundation of democracy in the workplace that the NLRA was intended to promote, and targets the worst abuses of labor law that have become all too common in recent years.
\"The need for labor law reform is urgent – not only for workers who seek to join together and bargain collectively, but for all Americans. One of the most important things we can do to raise the standard of living and quality of life for working Americans, raise wages and benefits, improve health and safety in the workplace, and give average Americans more control over their lives is to enforce their right to organize, join, and belong to a union. The right to organize will be one of the most important civil rights and human rights causes of the 21st century. Congress must restore that right to its proper place,\" said Wellstone.
All to often across America, workers who choose to organize, participate, or voice their concerns about the terms and conditions of their workplace live in fear - fear of being harassed, of losing wages and benefits, of being put on leave without pay – and ultimately fear of losing their jobs because they choose to exercise their legal rights to associate for the purposes of bargaining collectively and participating in decision-making about their own workplaces.
It is estimated that 10,000 Americans lose their jobs illegally every year just for supporting union organizing campaigns. The 1994 Dunlop Commission found that one in four employers illegally fired union activists during organizing campaigns.
Employers regularly fire workers and engage in other unfair labor practices to discourage union organizing and union representation. They do it with virtual impunity because today’s labor laws simply are too weak to discourage management from doing so. Employers routinely monopolize the debates leading up to union certification elections, and drag out election campaigns to give themselves more time to harass workers and create a climate of fear and intimidation. There also is the growing problem of employers refusing to bargain with their employees even after a union has been duly certified. Achieving so-called \"first contracts\" can often be as, or more, harrowing than the organizing effort itself. Wellstone’s Right-to-Organize Act of 2001 is a first step in tackling the more serious obstacles to labor organizing. The Act would do the following:
Amend the National Labor Relations Act to provide equal time to labor organizations to provide information about union representation. Under this proposal the employer would trigger the equal time provision by expressing opinions on union representation during work hours or at the work site. Once the triggering actions occur, then the union would be entitled to equal time to use the same media used by the employer to distribute information and be allowed access to the work site to communicate with employees.
Toughen penalties for wrongful discharge violations. In particular, the bill would require the National Labor Relations Board to award back pay equal to 3 times the employee’s wages when the Board finds that an employee is discharged as a result of an unfair labor practice. It also would allow employees to file civil actions to recover punitive damages when they have been discharged as a result of an unfair labor practice.
Require expedited elections in cases where a supermajority of workers have signed union recognition cards designating a union as the employee’s labor organization. In particular, it would require elections within 14 days after receipt of signed union recognition cards from 60 percent of the employees.
Erect mediation and arbitration procedures to help employers and employees reach mutually agreeable first-contract collective bargaining agreements. The bill would require mediation if the parties cannot reach agreement on their own after 60 days. Should the parties not reach agreement 30 days after a mediator is selected, then either party could call in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for binding arbitration. In this way both parties would have incentives to reach genuine agreement without allowing either side to hold the other hostage indefinitely to unrealistic proposals.
\"When workers join together to fight for job security, for dignity, for economic justice and for a fair share of America\'s prosperity, it is not a struggle merely for their own benefit. The gains of unionized workers on bread-and-butter issues are key to the economic security of all working families. Upholding the right to organize is a way to advance important social objectives -- higher wages, better benefits, more pension coverage, more worker training, more health insurance coverage, and safer work places -- for all Americans without creating any government programs to get us there,\" Wellstone said.
Wellstone also joined Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today as an original co-sponsor of The Workplace Fairness Act. That bill amends the NLRA and the Railway Labor Act to prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacement workers during a strike, or giving employment preference to cross-over employees. It also makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to allow a striking worker to return to work if that worker has unconditionally offered to return to work. Together with The Right-to-Organize Act of 2001, these measures produce the basic platform for healthy economies, healthy communities, and healthy families.
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See also:
http://www.senate.gov/%7Ewellstone/
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