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NLRB Review of UAW Case Could Threaten Card Check
An attack on one is an attack on all? You'd better believe it. The National Labor Relations Board agreed last month to review the long-used practice of forming a union through voluntary recognition. The case it's looking at involves the Auto Workers' efforts to organize two plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. But the possible ramifications could be equally devastating for CWA or any union that has been successful in organizing nationwide through card check and neutrality.
"Voluntary recognition predates the National Labor Relations Act," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "In fact, it goes back to the 19th century and predates any labor law in any country. It's appalling that the Bush labor board feels justified in challenging this basic concept."
The employees at both a Dana plant in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and a Metaldyne plant in St. Mary's, Pa., agreed to recognize the Auto Workers after card check campaigns in 2003. But within weeks, anti-union employees backed by the National Right to Work Committee filed petitions with the NLRB to decertify the union. The regional NLRB dismissed both cases.
Now, on a party-line vote, 3-2, the NLRB in Washington has ruled on appeal that it will review the case - probably not until sometime in 2005, after the elections. A John Kerry victory in November would have a major impact on the outcome, since the party that occupies the White House controls three of the five seats on the board.
"We've seen that whenever this administration can take aim at working families, it will," Cohen said. "That's why we must work all the harder to elect Senator Kerry in November."
In a startling move, the Republican majority on the board asserted "the superiority of board-supervised secret ballot elections." Meanwhile, citing the board's own 1966 decision involving Keller Plastics Eastern Inc., the two dissenting members wrote that the "recognition bar has stood the test of time. To revisit it serves no purpose but to undermine a principle that has been endorsed time and again by the board and the courts."
A conservative analyst said the board's decision will likely affect the amount of time after a voluntary recognition workers must wait before they can file for a decertification election, Knight Ridder newspapers reported. Right now, a year is standard. A Republican-controlled board could rule that disgruntled workers could file right after a company signs a neutrality agreement.
David Bonior, chair of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group American Rights at Work, said the NLRB's move could further expose workers to potential intimidation and harassment. "Workers who want a voice on the job need more protection, not less," he said.
American Rights at Work's new research project, "Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB," is monitoring the sufficiency of existing laws and the NLRB to protect workers who attempt to form unions. Updates are posted monthly at www.americanrightsatwork.org.
"Most Americans know little about the NLRB," said the group's executive director, Mary Beth Maxwell, "but this federal agency, charged with enforcing U.S. labor law, makes critical decisions that affect workers' lives and freedoms.
"Voluntary recognition predates the National Labor Relations Act," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "In fact, it goes back to the 19th century and predates any labor law in any country. It's appalling that the Bush labor board feels justified in challenging this basic concept."
The employees at both a Dana plant in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and a Metaldyne plant in St. Mary's, Pa., agreed to recognize the Auto Workers after card check campaigns in 2003. But within weeks, anti-union employees backed by the National Right to Work Committee filed petitions with the NLRB to decertify the union. The regional NLRB dismissed both cases.
Now, on a party-line vote, 3-2, the NLRB in Washington has ruled on appeal that it will review the case - probably not until sometime in 2005, after the elections. A John Kerry victory in November would have a major impact on the outcome, since the party that occupies the White House controls three of the five seats on the board.
"We've seen that whenever this administration can take aim at working families, it will," Cohen said. "That's why we must work all the harder to elect Senator Kerry in November."
In a startling move, the Republican majority on the board asserted "the superiority of board-supervised secret ballot elections." Meanwhile, citing the board's own 1966 decision involving Keller Plastics Eastern Inc., the two dissenting members wrote that the "recognition bar has stood the test of time. To revisit it serves no purpose but to undermine a principle that has been endorsed time and again by the board and the courts."
A conservative analyst said the board's decision will likely affect the amount of time after a voluntary recognition workers must wait before they can file for a decertification election, Knight Ridder newspapers reported. Right now, a year is standard. A Republican-controlled board could rule that disgruntled workers could file right after a company signs a neutrality agreement.
David Bonior, chair of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group American Rights at Work, said the NLRB's move could further expose workers to potential intimidation and harassment. "Workers who want a voice on the job need more protection, not less," he said.
American Rights at Work's new research project, "Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB," is monitoring the sufficiency of existing laws and the NLRB to protect workers who attempt to form unions. Updates are posted monthly at www.americanrightsatwork.org.
"Most Americans know little about the NLRB," said the group's executive director, Mary Beth Maxwell, "but this federal agency, charged with enforcing U.S. labor law, makes critical decisions that affect workers' lives and freedoms.