GOP Labor Board Ruling May Bar Millions from Joining Unions The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted today to crush longstanding Federal labor laws protecting workers' right to join a union. The NLRB ruled on three cases, collectively known as "Kentucky River", but it is their decision on Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. which could have a devastating impact on workers' right to join a union.
The Board's ruling essentially enables employers to make a supervisor out of any worker who has the authority to assign or direct another and uses independent judgment. They ruled that any worker can be classified as a supervisor if he or she spends as little as 10-15% of his or her time overseeing the work of others. Under current Federal labor laws, supervisors are prohibited from forming unions. The ruling could deny up to 8 million workers the right to choose union representation. Overview of this Bush NLRB decision - The "Kentucky River" Decision: The NLRB ruled on three cases referred to as the "Kentucky River" because they serve to clarify issues left open by the Supreme Court's Kentucky River decision in 2001. The Board's decision to broadly interpret who is a "supervisor" could allow employers to strip the right to join a union from up to 8 million more workers, simply by manipulating titles and job descriptions. Until now, the NLRB has always ruled that only people who have the authority to hire, fire, discipline, evaluate, or promote employees are ineligible to join a union because they are supervisors. The NLRB's decision in the Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. case significantly expands the definition and enables employers to make a supervisor out of any worker who has the authority to assign or direct another and uses independent judgment. The board also ruled that a worker can be classified as a supervisor if they spend as little as 10-15% of their time overseeing the work of others. Workers without any authority over working conditions, staffing levels, pay, or any other management power could lose their right to union representation. The impact is likely to be particularly dramatic in the health care industry, in construction, and in other skilled occupations where it is common for higher skilled workers to play a role in directing the work of lower skilled employees. For example, registered nurses who tell nurses aides to do certain things for particular patients and journeymen/building trades workers who work with apprentices and helpers on a crew could suddenly find themselves ineligible for union membership. Nurses, construction workers, newspaper and television employees, port workers and many others could be prohibited from forming unions. What's more, longtime union members could suddenly lose union representation when their contracts run out. Vanessa Quinn, a member of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1133 and an emergency room nurse in Kenmore, N.Y., near Buffalo, says expanding the definition of supervisor will be disastrous for nurses: "In Buffalo, recruiting is already a problem. If we can't get young people into nursing, we're in trouble. They need to know they can go into this profession and take care of a family. Without union protection, pay will not be competitive." American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and AFT Healthcare in a statement also say the decisions will jeopardize health care: "If nurses and other skilled workers are considered supervisors and lose union protection, they would be extremely reluctant to speak out about patient care problems out of fear of being fired or disciplined." The ramifications of this case are extremely serious; the decision could have a significant impact on the quality of patient care and workers' rights. More than 60 cases currently pending at the NLRB could be directly impacted by this case, and countless others could follow. 10/4/06 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
