Now more than ever, workers need to defend rights

[Omaha Steve]

Full article: http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/07/13/ed.col.labor.0713.p1.php?section=opinion



Now more than ever, workers need to defend rights
By C.J. Mann
and John Sweeney
Published: Thursday, July 13, 2006

Vanishing retirement security. Rising health care costs. Gas prices north of $3 a gallon. Workers in every industry are feeling the crunch of an increasingly harsh economy. As if it weren't difficult enough for working families to make ends meet, the National Labor Relations Board, appointed by President Bush, is poised to issue a series of decisions that could take away the one avenue to economic security left for America's workers: the freedom to form and join unions.

This summer, nurses, construction workers, painters, welders, electricians and others who have exercised their freedom to have a voice on the job are bracing for the latest assault on their rights. The labor relations board's decisions have the potential to affect workers in every industry. The board's rulings in three cases, collectively known as "Kentucky River," could strip hundreds of thousands of workers of their union protection, while many more could be blocked from joining a union.

At the heart of the issue is an effort to reclassify many workers as "supervisors." Unlike employees, "supervisors" do not have protected rights under federal law to form and join unions. Employers often try to classify workers as supervisors in order to deny them their right to union representation.

Any skilled or experienced worker who sometimes directs or assigns the work of those less skilled and experienced is vulnerable under a broader interpretation of "supervisor." For example, head or "charge" nurses, who direct less- experienced nurses and aides, could be deemed "supervisors" under the new rule.

The implications run deep. For example, if workers lose their protections as "employees" under federal law, they may be fired or otherwise disciplined for union activity. They'll lose the freedom to choose to join or remain a member of a union.

[justgamma]

1. It's frightening what's going on out there.

My daughter works in a non-union factory. This week they were forced to sign a paper saying they understood that they could be fired at anytime with no reason.

GO UNION!!!

[struggle4progress]

2. K&R