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LABOR NEWS
MARCH, 2009
EDITORIAL
"While there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, lam of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free"— Eugene V. Debs
Duh, It's Not About The Secret Ballot
Few people can argue
against the claim that "Corporate Greed is out of Control."
But unfortunately, that is the
same reason companies have
launched a $200 million war
against their employees. And,
many Americans not collecting
CEO salaries, have bought into
their lies about the Employee
Free Choice Act.
More than half of America's
workers - 60 million - say they
would join a union if they
could. But too few will get that
chance. Research conducted
by Cornell University in conjunction with the U.S. Trade
Deficit Review Commission
shows that employers routinely rig the elections by
which workers cast a "secret
ballot" on whether they want
to unionize. As St. John's University law professor David
Gregory has written, "The
election process...is replete
with unlawful firings of pro-
union workers."
The Cornell study found that
25 percent of private-sector
employers illegally fire workers for supporting a union.
More than three-quarters use
supervisors to pressure workers in one-on-one meetings not
to join - or not to vote for - a
union. Over the past 45 years,
the number of employers ordered to pay back wages to
workers because they violated
their right to organize has increased dramatically. Even so,
enforcement of the existing
labor laws has been very lax,
because federal authorities
have lacked the staff and political will to supervise labor
elections around the country.
And, the penalties are so low
that many employers simply
write them off as business
expenses.
It's no coincidence that as
union membership has declined, we've seen a shrinking
middle class, more low-paying
jobs and a huge increase in the
number of people without
health insurance. The decline
in union membership affects
all Americans. Unions provided the entry into the middle
class for millions of Americans. It was labor's sweat and
blood that gave us the eight
hour day, Social Security,
Medicare, and the minimum
wage.
Currently, if workers want to
organize, the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) sets
up a secret ballot election a
month or two after the formal
request, an "interval of worker
intimidation" in which employers can require workers to
attend meetings during working hours to give anti-union
speeches, show anti-union
movies, and distribute antiunion literature. Unions have
no equivalent access to employees. Instead, organizers
must visit workers' homes or
hold secret meetings.
The Employee Free Choice
Act (EFCA) would allow employees to form unions simply
by signing cards stating their
support of union representation. If a majority of workers
sign, the company would be
obliged to bargain with the
union chosen by the employees. Contrary to claims by critics, the EFCA will not eliminate so-called "secret ballot"
elections. If 1/3 of workers
want to have an NLRB election at their workplace, they
can still request that the federal
government hold an election.
Here in our own Hoosier
backyard, we have hotel
workers who have been patiently waiting for more than a
year for their management to
acknowledge their request to
form a union. The Janitors
who won their first contract
back in April 2008 are still taking on a company who
chooses to ignore their
achievements and collective
power. Next time you check
out a book at the local library,
ask at the circulation desk how
long they have been negotiating with the library board.
First, please join the dialogue about respect and workers' rights in the workplace
rather than believing the $200
million dollar message corporations are putting out about
the secret ballot. Then, please
urge our local elected officials
to support the Employee Free
Choice Act so that we may restore to workers in Indiana and
across the whole of our
democracy the fundamental
freedom to form unions
All is on'"Luthe
Comrtn
Central Indiana
Justice
