Bernie Sanders' plan to rebuild labor unions would be a huge win for working Americans

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

Probably the core of the Sanders plan is a total overhaul of the basic structure of union organizing. Currently, American unions are organized separately at each individual workplace: First you identify your bargaining unit and a union to join, then you send the NLRB cards proving at least 30 percent of the workforce wants a union, then you hold an election, and if you get a majority, hey presto, you're unionized! It's not that tough in theory, but in practice there are multiple legal opportunities for employers to trip up or stall the process — and a great many illegal ones that they usually get away with.

Sanders would replace that with sectoral bargaining, as seen in much of Europe. Under this model all the unions and all the employers in a particular industry negotiate a bargain for wages and benefits, and then the government extends the contract to cover every employee in the industry — whether they are members of a union or not. As Dylan Matthews argues, this would drastically reduce the incentive for individual bosses to stop their workers from organizing, and stop investors from strategically directing capital to non-union firms.

He would also streamline and upgrade the union formation process in several ways. Instead of the two-step process above, unions could be certified with a simple majority petition. He would establish a legal right to unionize, remove the ability of employers to reject a first contract, and make it easier to force them into binding arbitration. He would stop employers from being able to escape unionization by labeling their employees as supervisors or independent contractors, and ban them from forcing their workers to attend anti-union harangues. He would classify franchises like McDonald's as "joint employers," allowing such employees to unionize under the corporate parent instead of store-by-store. He would ban contract-infringing state laws which forbid employers from signing closed shop agreements with unions, and mandate that businesses that merge must honor their existing union contracts.

(snip)

At any rate, if actually implemented, this would upend American political economy. Union organizing would explode overnight, working-class wages would soar, and the income of executives and investors would fall sharply. It would be a glorious victory for nearly all of the American people — which is why big business will fight it to their dying breath. But it's just possible that under President Sanders, we could enjoy the spectacle of scofflaw bosses like David Portney being hauled out of their offices by federal marshals.


https://theweek.com/articles/860217/bernie-sanders-plan-rebuild-labor-unions-huge-win-working-americans

[Fresh_Start]

1. To be perfectly honest, a plan will not be a win for anyone

the satisfactory and complete execution of a plan would be a win

[Uncle Joe]

3. All anyone has at this point is a plan. n/t

[George II]

6. "The best laid schemes (plans) o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley."

[Fresh_Start]

7. so false claims about 'big win' shouldn't be made at this point

because a plan is just a plan...it is not an achievement.

[Uncle Joe]

8. I'm re-posting the title of the OP with bolded section for your reading convenience

"Bernie Sanders' plan to rebuild labor unions would be a huge win for working Americans."

[George II]

2. So he's basically saying he knows more about forming unions than the unions themselves?

Sounds eerily like "I know more about ISIS than the generals."

There's so much in this that is impossible to achieve. How can a president "ban" state laws?

[Uncle Joe]

4. Where did you pull that conclusion from? n/t

[George II]

5. I read your excerpt and the article.

[ehrnst]

9. He's certainly getting a deep dive into labor law and Unions right now w/ his own staff

"It does bother me that people are going outside of the process and going to the media," he said. "That is really not acceptable. It is really not what labor negotiations are about, and it's improper."

Sanders said, ahead of a weekend Iowa campaign swing: "We are disappointed that some individuals have decided to damage the integrity of these efforts. We are involved in negotiations. And some are individuals that have decided to damage the integrity of that process before they were concluded."

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/07/19/bernie-sanders-campaign-staff-wage-15-hour-union-elizabeth-warren-campaign-wages/1781159001/

I guess Sanders needs to be briefed about labor law...

According to the NLRB:

“Employees have a statutory right to speak publically about their complaints or concerns with their terms and conditions of employment, including to the press, without employer authorization.”

In other words, employees have a right under the National Labor Relations Act generally to discuss their employment – including with the press. Based on the finding that the policy was unlawful, the NLRB also found that the company violated labor law when it terminated two employees pursuant to the policy for speaking to the media about a workplace issue. A more narrowly tailored policy may have passed muster, but the broad media prohibition, in this case, crossed the line.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/can-you-terminate-employee-talking-to-press

Interestingly, shortly after campaign staffers talked to the media...

The charge was filed by a former staffer, a campaign spokeswoman told Bloomberg Law. The staffer alleges that the campaign retaliated against certain workers for engaging in protected labor activity, according to redacted copy of the document.

Campaign leaders “retaliated against me when I organized the bargaining unit and sent an email requesting compliance with the” collective employment contract, the anonymous staffer wrote in the charge. The staffer also said that at least three campaign workers were fired in retaliation for their organizing and union activities, among other allegations.
......................................................

The staffer alleged that the campaign “failed to notify us upon hire that we had a” collective bargaining agreement and “maintained that we were ‘at-will.’” At-will workers generally can be fired at any time and for any reason the employer deems appropriate.

The staffer said campaign management promised “some employees housing, and not others,” despite that paid housing and expenses are required under the collective bargaining agreement. The Sanders campaign also broke the terms of its collective bargaining agreement by making staff work additional days and failing to provide days off, according to the charge allegations.
........................................................................................................................................
The allegations come shortly after a tense period in the relationship between the Sanders campaign and the union representing its staffers was recently made public. The internal disagreements sparked some criticism of the White House candidate—who has made worker rights a central part of his pitch to voters—from conservatives and Republican politicians.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/sanders-campaign-complaint-alleges-retaliation-for-unionizing

[MichMan]

10. I fail to see how something like this could ever pass

If I understand sectional bargaining as explained here, this doesn't seem very feasible.

If McDonalds for instance, unionized, and a union contract was ratified, then every other single fast food restaurant in the entire county would then automatically become unionized under the same contract terms.

All of this without the employees having any say at all in either being unionized at all , what union they might choose, or negotiating their own pay and benefits. This would also seemingly apply not only to major chains, but every single mom and pop type establishment as well.

How in the world would anything like this ever become law?

[AncientGeezer]

11. It wouldn't....

[comradebillyboy]

12. Have any of Bernie's plans ever come to fruition?