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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2011)
NLRB says workers need to know their rights; business world flips out ENJOY LABOR DAY YOU’VE EARNED IT! ERNATI O JU ST IC E S O rg an 03 LAB ORER UN I ON AL N TRENG T H H ON OR S' T IN of i z ed No , A pr i l 1 3 19 rth A m e a ric Laborers Local 296 By MIKE HALL WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Na- tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a new and simple rule Aug. 25. It says employers must display an 11- by-17-inch poster informing workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, where they usually post notices to let workers know their rights. Saying he applauded the new rule, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said: “Just as employers are required to notify their employees of their rights around health and safety, wages and discrimination on the job, this rule gives clear information to employees about their rights under this fundamen- tal labor law so that workers are better equipped to exercise and enforce them.” Yet, judging from the reaction of the Big Business, the notice is just a step away from the NLRB giving workers the right to drag employers into the street and beat them severely about the head and shoulders. Keep in mind, this is a just a poster. The National Federation of Inde- pendent Business (NFIB) calls it an “unprecedented overreach of its au- thority ... a punitive new rule ... a new low ... a trap for millions of busi- nesses.” It’s just a poster. Peter Schaumber, a former NLRB chairman appointed by former Presi- dent George W. Bush, told Bloomberg News, “It’s arbitrary, it’s capricious.” It’s just a poster. On the right-wing website GO- PUSA, the new rule is “another dis- gusting government intrusion into pri- vate business.” It’s just a poster. Just a poster similar to the ones the U.S. Department of La- bor requires the thousands and thou- sands of federal contractors to post. The NLRB says employers will not be required to distribute the notice via e-mail, voice mail, text messaging or related electronic communications “even if they customarily communicate with their employees in that manner and they may post notices in black and white as well as in color.” All it needs to say is that employees have the right to act together to im- prove wages and working conditions, to form, join and assist a union, to bar- gain collectively with their employer. It also must say, “employees may refrain from any of these activities.” Pretty even handed, huh? By the way, it won’t cost employers a penny because the NLRB will pro- vide copies for free or employers can download it. (Editor’s Note: Mike Hall writes for the AFL-CIO Now blog.) Allstate insurance agents affiliate with OPEIU GULFPORT, Miss. (PAI) — By a margin of 94 percent, members of the association representing 1,200 Allstate Insurance agents voted Aug. 17 to merge into Office and Professional Employees International Union. The key issue is the insurer’s mis- treatment of agents. It classifies them as “independent contractors,” unpro- tected by labor law. But it treats them as “employees,” subject to its rules, regulations and sales quotas — includ- ing its strong-arm effort to buy veteran agents out at low prices for their sup- posedly independent franchises. “With the prospect of a 20 percent cut in agent compensation looming, the time is ripe to affiliate,” said Jim Fish, executive director of the National As- sociation of Professional Allstate Agents, based in Gulfport, Miss. “Many insurers utilizing independ- ent contractor agents manipulated IRS precepts to the point where independ- ent contractors are now employees without benefits or protections,” he continued. “Agent morale at Allstate has hit rock bottom, which cannot be good for the company, the agents or the shareholders.” 4545 NE 102nd Ave. Portland, Oregon Kenneth Morgan Business Manager 503-256-5716 Happy Labor Day! Honoring the Working Men and Women of Oregon and Washington Special Recognition to Workers Everywhere happy labor day! OREgOn StAtE Building And COnStRuCtiOn tRAdES COunCil P.O. Box 4148 Portland, Oregon 97208 503-282-5581 www.wcearhart.com JOhn MOhliS Executive Secretary 503-788-7153 www.oregonbuildingtrades.com/ PAGE 12 Main office: 3140 NE Broadway, Portland 3535 SE 86th Ave. Portland, OR 97266 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
