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JUNE 5, 2009:NWLP 6/2/09 10:18 AM Page 4 Congressional briefing Workers face increasing abuse in attempts to form unions By SETH MICHAELS Labor law experts and a California worker exposed the ugly truth about corporate abuses of workers trying to exercise their freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life during a briefing on Capitol Hill May 20. At the center of the discussion: Kate Bronfenbrenner’s new report, “No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing,” released by the Economic Policy Insti- tute (EPI) and the American Rights at Work Education Fund. The report shows that the problems the Employee Free Choice Act would address are get- ting worse. Bronfenbrenner has studied these is- sues for decades as the director of la- bor education research at Cornell Uni- versity’s School of Industrial Relations. This is her fourth survey over 20 years, enabling her to put into historical per- spective the obstacles workers face. At the briefing, Bronfenbrenner said weak laws and a hostile environment have emboldened corporations, over the past decade, to step up their abuses against workers trying to form unions. “The research provides a detailed portrait of a system that has failed pri- vate-sector workers. Workers have come to understand what our data con- firms: Employers are using an arsenal of legal and illegal tactics to interfere with workers trying to organize, and they are doing it with impunity,” she said. The study is the result of an in-depth examination of National Labor Rela- tions Board (NLRB) documents, ex- amination of companies, interviews with workers and investigations of un- fair labor practice filings, to give a clear picture of what the process of forming a union really looks like. And it’s not pretty: • 63 percent of companies have su- pervisors interrogate workers in mandatory one-on-one meetings. • 57 percent of companies threaten workers with plant closings. • 47 percent threaten to cut wages and benefits. What’s more, even if they win rep- resentation, a majority of workers still don’t have a first contract after a year. Angel Warner, a working mom from California, offered a compelling story of these coercive tactics in action. Warner is a Rite Aid warehouse worker who tried to form a union through the International Longshore and Ware- house Union (ILWU) at a large ware- time to stand up for ourselves.” Warner said that, as she and her-co- workers tried to form a union, manage- ment pulled union supporters aside for threatening meetings and singled out potential supporters for harassment. Pro- union employees Historically, the number of unfair were fired, and the labor practice filings against unions is workers filed 49 la- bor law violations extremely low — only 42 cases of — but the only misconduct over seven decades — repercussion for while there are nearly 30,000 unfair Rite-Aid was hav- ing to re-hire two labor practices against workers by employees and post fliers saying they companies every year. wouldn’t do it any more. Warner and her workers hoped to form a union. Wages co-workers won the election by only a and benefits were an issue, she said, but handful of votes, even after getting not the only issue. Mostly, they were two-thirds of the employees to sign up, concerned about job security and im- because of the extended election period proving safety, especially after man- and the abuses by management during that time. The election was held two agement imposed a quota system. “You walk a fine line of taking a trip years after starting the process of gath- to the hospital or a trip to the unem- ering signatures, Warner said, and even ployment line,” she said. “We like our after a year of having won a union, the jobs, we just want dignity, respect and a company still hasn’t offered a contract. “Our labor laws are not working, voice in our workplace. A person can only take so much. We decided it was they’re not protecting the working class,” Warner said. Fred Feinstein, a former NLRB counsel and a University of Maryland professor, agrees that existing labor law isn’t protecting workers. Warner’s story isn’t an exception, Feinstein said — it’s one vivid example of a perva- sive failure of labor law. “There’s room for better enforce- ment and better strategies, but the law itself is defective,” he said. Feinstein said there is considerable evidence that over the last decades new tactics have been developed and weak- nesses in the law exploited so that con- ditions on the ground have changed. “We need to change the legal framework if we’re going to protect house with 600 workers. The ware- house was inadequately heated in the winter and cooled in the summer, and the work was difficult and at times un- safe. That’s why Warner and her co- people,” he said. Extended delay is a powerful wea- pon for employers, he continued, be- cause it ensures years of litigation to prevent remedies for their misbehavior. Bronfenbrenner said that although she studied many unfair labor practice filings, many abuses aren’t even re- ported because a climate of fear, weak remedies and long delays prevent workers from protesting unfair prac- tices. Warner said the common corporate complaint — that workers could act co- ercively as they campaigned to get their co-workers to form a union — was laughable and unsupported by facts. “From a worker’s point of view, the harassment and intimidation I’ve seen has come from the company side.” Bronfenbrenner and Feinstein both agreed that decades of research into or- ganizing campaigns show this to be the case across the board. Historically, the number of unfair labor practice filings against unions is extremely low — only 42 cases of misconduct over seven decades — while there are nearly 30,000 unfair labor practices against workers by companies every year. Peo- ple who say both sides are at fault aren’t to be taken seriously, Bronfen- brenner said. “Unions wouldn’t function if work- ers were coerced. The whole idea of having a union, of the organizing process, relies on workers feeling they have a democratic process, and believ- ing in their union,” she said. “Workers can vote their way out of a union at many phases — you don’t get to vote against your boss, and employers have enormous power over workers. They can fire you, they control your sched- ule, your pay, your working condi- tions.” (Editor’s Note: Seth Michaels writes for the national AFL-CIO Now blog.) The Marco Consulting Group I NVESTMENT C ONSULTANTS TO M ULTI -E MPLOYER B ENEFIT F UNDS Please call Jason Zenk at 253-376-3391 Midwest Office 550 W Washington Blvd Ninth Floor Chicago, IL 60661 p: 312-575-9000 F: 312-575-9840 East Coast Office 1220 Adams St First Floor Boston, MA 02124 p: 617-298-0967 F: 617-298-0966 www.marcoconsulting.com PAGE 4 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JUNE 5, 2009
