1Center for American Progress Action Fund | House Republican Attacks on the National Labor Relations Board Hurt All Workers
House Republican Attacks on the NationalLabor Relations Board Hurt All Workers
By David Madland and Karla WalterNovember 30, 2011
Introduction
House epublicans are using every ool available o hem—including heir budge, regula-ory, and legislaive-oversigh powers—o wage a coordinaed atack on workers’ righs by rying o eviscerae he Naional Labor elaions Board, or NLB. Tis eor jeopardizeshe basic righs and well-being o all workers, no jus hose who are in unions.Te NLB proecs workers’ righs o join ogeher in unions and collecively bar-gain, which helps build a srong middle class. And he NLB direcly helps nonunion workers by proecing heir righ o speak up abou workplace problems wihou earo employer reribuion. When sae governmens in Ohio and Wisconsin passed laws sripping public-secor workers o heir collecive-bargaining righs his pas spring, union and nonunion resi-dens sood ogeher in dramaic displays o opposiion because hey undersood hahe eor was an atack on all workers. epublicans in Congress are displaying a similardisdain oward workers’ righs bu insead o a single bill hey are using a number o argeed atacks o launch a coordinaed assaul.Tese acions have no ye received he same level o atenion as he Ohio and Wisconsin laws bu hey deserve comparable scruiny because hey ollow a similar play- book ye he combined eec o hese ederal eors would be even more damaging. As in Ohio and Wisconsin, workers are he scapegoas or a problem hey have nohingo do wih. In hese saes workers were supposedly he cause o budge woes—no heGrea ecession or he epublican governors’ ax cus or he wealhy. A he ederallevel, workers’ righsare allegedly he cause o high raes o unemploymen—no heailed epublican economic agendao ax cus or he rich and deregulaion, no WallSree speculaionha craered our economy, and no helow level o demandor goods
and services by consumers wih depressed incomes.
2Center for American Progress Action Fund | House Republican Attacks on the National Labor Relations Board Hurt All Workers
Te idea ha workers’ righs are causing our economic problems is absurd. Unions are ashrinking acor in he economy, and when hey were a heir sronges, he U.S. economy was a is sronges. Moreover, he NLB has been around or more han 75 years, during which he Unied Saes experienced remendous invesmen and job growh. Finally,oher counries ha have much sronger laws proecing worker righs and are much moreheavily unionized—among hem Ausralia, Canada, Germany, and he Neherlands—aredoing beter or a leas as well as he Unied Saes in his economic downurn. Ye House epublicans need a scapegoa—and see an opporuniy o hobble a weak-ened opponen—so hey have ramped up heir atacks o exreme levels. Over he pas year, epublicans in Congress voed o slash unding or he NLB, atemped o block enorcemen o exising worker-proecion laws, and even hreaened o shu down parso he ederal governmen in order o advance heir goals. All workers—no jus he unionized—should care abou hese atacks. So le’s deailhe House epublican assauls on he Naional Labor elaions Board and wha heseatacks would cause i successul.
The National Labor Relations Board protects the rights of nonunion workers
Te Naional Labor elaions Ac, which is enorced by he NLB, provides he righor privae-secor workers o come ogeher o discuss wages and work condiions andpush heir employer or improvemens. Everyhing rom ormal meeings ha work-ers migh se up o discuss a problem, such as workplace healh and saey, as well asaciviies we all ake or graned, such as alking abou a new company policy aroundhe waer cooler or complaining wih our coworkers abou wages over Facebook, areproeced by he Naional Labor elaions Ac.I an employer realiaes agains workers and res or oherwise disciplines hem orexercising hese righs, he NLB can require i o reverse he penaly, reinsae hese workers, and pay hem or los wages.epublicans never menion his role o he NLB in heir atacks bu proecing herighs o nonunion workers is a cenral uncion o he agency. Indeed, ew oher agen-cies boas such a broad mandae o proec workers’ righs—union and nonunion alike.Mos privae-secor workers are covered by he NLR—wih some excepions includ-ing independen conracors, managers, and rail and air indusry workers. As a resul, heNLR provides proecions o77 perceno all privae-secor workers in he Unied Saes.
3Center for American Progress Action Fund | House Republican Attacks on the National Labor Relations Board Hurt All Workers
Polling daa shows ha mos Americans rely on his abiliy o collaborae wih cowork-ers o solve workplace problems.Seveny perceno Americans believe ha employeesare more successul in geting problems resolved a work when hey bring up hese prob-lems as a group raher han as individuals, according o a 2003 Peer D. Har esearch Associaes Poll. And63 perceno working Americans repored ha hey joinedogeher wih co-workers o solve a workplace problem in 1997—he las year ha ques-ion was asked—according o he Pew esearch Cener or he People and he Press.In recen years he NLB has proeced he righs o nonunion workers o engage in“proeced concered aciviy ” o improve wages, benes, and working condiions in anumber o prominen cases. In hese cases, nonunion workers have led charges againsheir employer and asked he NLB o invesigae.Te NLBinvesigaedseveral complains by nonunion workers ha have used socialmedia o communicae wih each oher abou workplace condiions. Case in poin: AnNLB adminisraive law judge ound his all ha ve workers wereillegally redroma Bualo, New York, nonpro organizaion when hey corresponded on Facebook abou working condiions, including workload and sang issues. Te judge awardedhe discharged workers reinsaemen and back pay.Te NLB also recenly ruledha employers can’ re workers preempively o sy-mie employees rom communicaing wih each oher. Te board ound ha whenParexel Inernaional, LLC, a pharmaceuical research company, red a worker whohad inquired abou wage inequaliies in order o suppress urher discussions o wagesand possible discriminaion among employees, he company had inerered wih he worker’s righ o raise issues o muual concern wih coworkers regarding wages and work condiions. Te NLB alsooundha a Wyndham esor Developmen Corp. worker was engaged in proeced concered aciviy when he asked quesions o hissupervisor, in ron o co-workers, abou a new dress code ha would apply broadly ohim and his colleagues.In all hese cases he NLB provided oversigh o ensure ha nonunion workers wereable o discuss workplace issues wih heir colleagues—a basic righ ha would be in jeopardy i he epublican agenda succeeds.Tese workers’ righs are no rivial. More han200,000nonunion arge Corp. workersand consumers signed apeiionproesing he reailer’s plans o open sores a mid-nigh on Tanksgiving, requiring workers o leave celebraions early in order o reporo work. I workers ace workplace realiaion or signing he peiion, i’s likely he only proecion hese workers would receive would come rom he NLB.
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House Republican Attacks on the National Labor Relations Board Hurt All Workers
Recent House Republican attacks on the National Labor Relations Board are damaging to all workers, not just the unionized, write David Madland and Karla Walter.
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