Representative Andrews and Senator Dodd Introduce Legislation to Restore a Worker's Right to Organize and Collectively Bargain

Friday, March 23, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ), chairman of the House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee (HELP) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced legislation today to restore the freedom to organize and collectively bargain to millions of workers stripped of these rights due to several National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions.  Joining them in introducing the legislation are Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

Day after day, middle class families are struggling to make ends meet as their real incomes decline and the costs of basic necessities increase.  A major contributor to this middle class squeeze is the decline in workers' freedom to join together and collectively bargain for better wages and benefits.  Organized workers earn more, have greater access to health care benefits, and are more likely to have guaranteed pensions than unorganized workers.  When workers get their fair share, the economy benefits and the middle class grows stronger. 

Yet the freedom to organize and collectively bargain has been under severe assault in recent decades, thanks to a weak federal labor law in dire need of reform.  It has also been rolled back by a number of misguided decisions by the NLRB in the last few years.  These decisions have operated to strip millions of workers entirely of their freedom to organize.  The RESPECT Act serves to restore that freedom by addressing a series of decisions which stray dramatically from and undermine the original intent of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and which fly in the face of common sense.  It does so by providing clarity to the NLRA on one aspect of the fundamental question of coverage:  who is an employee and who is a supervisor.

Last year, the NLRB issued a trio of decisions, often referred to collectively as the "Kentucky River" decisions, which eviscerated the meanings of "employee" and "supervisor" under the NLRA.  The Kentucky River decisions dramatically expanded the definition of supervisor far beyond the limits that the framers of the Act intended and far beyond the limits of common sense.  In so doing, it stripped an estimated 8 million workers - particularly skilled and professional employees - of the freedom to organize.

"The Kentucky River decisions are not an anomaly for the current National Labor Relations Board," Andrews said.  "In the last five years, the Board has repeatedly ruled to deny or restrict the fundamental rights of entire categories of workers.  These include 45,000 disabled workers who lost their right to organize; 51,000 teaching and research assistants who lost their right to organize; and 2 million temporary workers who have had their right to organize severely curtailed.  This hurts workers' ability to earn decent wages and receive decent benefits. With the introduction of the RESPECT Act, we intend to restore those important rights."

"The RESPECT Act is a critical and commonsense step to help protect workers' rights," said Senator Dodd.  "Allowing employers to deny workers the right to unionize because their tasks require occasional and minor supervisory duties is unjust and frankly un-American.  It is our responsibility to ensure that these hard-working individuals are treated fairly by their employers."   

"For the last six years, the Bush administration has waged an all-out attack on the rights of American workers," said Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a cosponsor of the bill. "Democrats are committed to restoring the rights that workers have lost under this administration. Protecting workers' rights - including their rights to bargain for better wages and benefits - is key to strengthening America's middle class."

"While the Kentucky River decisions may - on the surface - appear to be a technical dispute, it is nothing of the sort.  Whether it is nurses, construction or metal workers or employees in any other profession, at the heart of this issue is the right of employees to organize to bargain and to share in the control of their own destinies," stated DeLauro. "The RESPECT ACT is about whether we as a nation will stand up for the efforts of working people to improve their lives or make it harder for them and their families to seize opportunities - at home or at work, in college or in our hospitals." 

The RESPECT Act does nothing more than clarify the law to ensure it is not misinterpreted or undermined on a fundamental question of coverage.  All workers, including skilled and professional workers, have the right to organize. 

"I urge all of my colleagues to stand with me as we fight to return these fundamental protections to millions workers who deserve the chance to win livable wages, fair benefits, decent working conditions, and a brighter future for their families," said Andrews.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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