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PAGE 8 | May 15, 2015 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS National Labor Relations Board to tackle R-T-W ‘free riders’ case The NLRB wants to hear from all sides on whether unions must process grievances for free in right-to-work states. By Mark Gruenberg Press Associates Inc. WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a case that could give the so- called “right to work” laws and movement a huge kick in the head, the National Labor Rela- tions Board (NLRB) is tackling whether such “free riders” should continue to get their “free ride.” In a case pitting United Steel- workers against the huge paper- maker Georgia Pacific Corp. and its Buckeye Florida Corp. subsidiary, the Board called for briefs on whether free riders should have to pay the union on a case by case basis to handle their grievances. In the 25 states that don’t have right-to-work laws, work- ers who opt-out of joining the union at their workplace must pay the union a “fair share” fee to cover the costs of contract ne- gotiations and administration, including grievances. In the 25 states with right-to- work laws, workers who opt out of the union don’t have to pay a dime, yet the union is still re- quired to represent them if they have a dispute with their boss. Right-to-work proponents’ stated goal is to ensure workers aren’t forced to pay for union services. Their real intent, how- ever, is to starve unions finan- cially, thus eliminating organ- ized worker opposition to the corporate agenda. The NLRB now wants to hear from all sides on whether unions must process grievances and represent non-member workers for free. If the Board decides to let unions charge non-members fees for process- ing individual grievances, it wants to know what factors should determine the level of those fees. In the Florida case, NLRB administrative law judge William Cates ruled on March 24, 2014 that Buckeye, in its contract with Steelworkers Lo- cal 1192, broke labor law “by maintaining and implementing a ‘Fair Share Policy’ requiring non-member bargaining-unit employees to pay a grievance- processing fee.” On April 21, Portland City Council legal- ized Transportation Network Compa- nies—which use smart phone apps to let customers summon private vehicles as taxis. Within days, Uber was doing busi- ness in Portland. A privately-held company founded in San Francisco in 2009, Uber is backed by $5.9 billion from 36 investors—from Goldman Sachs and Blackrock, to Google Ventures and the sovereign wealth fund of the Emir of Qatar. Uber says its name comes from German word for “around.” But more often the German word über translates as “over” or “above,” as in “übermensch,” “Deutsch- land Über Alles,” or “above the law.” Uber operates in defiance of local ordinances around the world, and is the defendant in several class action lawsuits by drivers. Daniel Ajema, now a prosecutor with King County in Seattle, drove for Uber while in law school. He was so bothered by conditions—and changes in terms and conditions without notice or appeal—that in 2014 he helped organize a group of sev- eral hundred Uber drivers. “The company has huge control over the way we do business, so we wanted to form an association, a sort of labor union,” The case asks the Board to re- verse course and “adopt a rule allowing unions to charge non- members a fee for grievance processing, so long as that fee does not exceed the amount a union could charge non-mem- ber objectors” to union spending for non-bargaining and non- contract uses, such as politics. Until now, the case for letting unions not represent non-mem- bers, even at worksites with union contracts, has been an ac- ademic debate. “There is no seeming ration- ale for this inequity, and nothing in the federal labor law nor in state right-to-work laws requires it,” say Harvard Law Professor Benjamin Sachs and UC-Irvine Law Professor Catherine Fisk, authors of the most-comprehen- sive paper on the issue. “If unions are prohibited from collecting ‘fair share’ fees, they should at a minimum be permit- ted to charge workers for the costs of individual grievance representation,” the professors said. That’s what the NLRB case is about. According to the federal gov- ernment, there are 1.6 million ‘free riders’ in the United States. Now that it’s legal in Portland ... What the heck is an Uber? Ajema recalls. “We were quite naive. We thought the company would talk to us.” Ajema says he and other leaders elected by the driver group met with Uber’s Seat- tle general manager Brooke Steger, but the next day the company sent an email warn- ing drivers not to talk with them. Drivers were told if they have an issue, they’d have to address it individually. The company would not be recognizing any association. Uber doesn’t even recognize drivers as employees. Uber drivers are independent LOCAL MOTION APRIL 2015 The following are Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces where workers are determining whether to be represented by a union. The thumbs-up symbol means workers will be union- represented. Thumbs-down means they’ll be on their own. Decert means a decertification election, where union-represented workers vote whether to remain union. The information comes from the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Election Requests Employer (Location) Union Providence Newberg Medical Center (Newberg) Oregon Nurses Association ■ 150 workers – registered nurses Firestop Company (Vancouver) UA Road Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 ■ sprinkler intallers and sprinkler tech employees Republic Services of Portland (Portland) Teamsters Local 305 ■ 22 workers – waste collection drivers and helpers Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association (Ashland) IATSE ■ 63 workers – lighting, video & projections, sound, stage operations, wardrobe, wig and hair West Linn - Wilsonville School District (Tualatin) OSEA Local 6732 DECERT ■ 334 workers – classified employees OHSU (Portland) OHSU Police Association vs. AFSCME Local 328 ■ 13 workers – Oregon Health and Science University police officers Election Results Employer (Location) Union Yes-No = ABM Onsite Services - West (Portland) IAM District Lodge W24 DFW Security Protective Force (Albany) United Security Forces Milwaukie Convalescent Center (Milwaukie) SEIU Local 503 15-6 10-0 37-6 HAPPENINGS Trumka to keynote summit in Vancouver National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will join some of the most talented union or- ganizers across the country in Vancouver, Wash., Tuesday, May 19, for the 2015 Organiz- contractors, working for themselves … un- der terms that are dictated by Uber and changeable by Uber at any time. In fact, Uber says it’s a software com- pany, not a transportation company. [Right, a software company that dictates the fares and terminates its “partners” if they get less than stellar customer ratings.] Scroll through Uber’s 4,600-word user agree- ment (“Last Updated: April 8, 2015”) and you’ll see in all caps: YOU ACKNOWL- EDGE THAT UBER DOES NOT PRO- VIDE TRANSPORTATION OR LOGIS- TICS SERVICES OR FUNCTION AS A TRANSPORTATION CARRIER.” That’s so Uber can discriminate against you if you’re disabled. The Americans for Dis- abilities Act prohibits “common carriers” in transportation from refusing rides to people in wheelchairs. But Uber doesn’t provide rides, it says. Its drop-in, drop-out “partners” do. So sue the drivers. Just don’t expect Uber to cooperate when you do. Uber says its product is “ridesharing,” but that’s pure spin. Uber doesn’t share rides—it sells them. With driver “partners” providing the vehicles and labor, Uber takes 20 percent off the top. It’s the top- dog labor broker for a new informal econ- omy of unmarked taxis. ing Summit. The summit, presented by the Oregon AFL-CIO, also will fea- ture national AFL-CIO Organiz- ing Director Elizabeth Bunn. Participants will learn about the state labor federation’s col- laborative approach to building worker power. The summit will be held at the Vancouver Hilton from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is $25. For more information, go to orafl- cio.org/organizing-summit/. —TOO MUCH— How concentrated have in- come and wealth become in the United States? In 1984, the top 0.01 percent of campaign con- tributors gave 11.9 percent of U.S. political donations. In 2012, the top 0.01 percent of contributors gave 41.8 percent of all contributions. HHH In its first four years, the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has forced fi- nancial services firms to return over $5 billion directly to con- sumers that they cheated. Yet not one of today’s top financial industry execs has so far been jailed. T OO M UCH IS A BLOG FROM THE I NSTITUTE FOR P OLICY S TUDIES
