NLRB says workers need to know
their rights; business world flips out
ENJOY
LABOR DAY
YOU’VE EARNED IT!
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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
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
SEPTEMBER 2, 2011