A new report from American Rights at Work titled Free and Fair? has found that labor laws in the United States do little to protect workers and, in many cases, fail to live up to even the most basic labor standards. The report finds that labor laws are designed to protect employers and owners, not employees, and as such, union election procedures favor employers.
According to the report, U.S. employers freely distribute anti-union literature while workers are restricted from openly circulating pro-union literature; employers deny pro-union campaigners essential employee information to which bosses nevertheless enjoy access; and employers and supervisors coerce workers with actual or threatened grants or withdrawals of privileges based upon employees’ position on the union. Moreover, existing labor law allows employers to use a lengthy appeals process to essentially block recognition of unions in cases where organizing drives end in a pro-union vote.
Aside from unfair union regulations, 23,000 workers are dismissed or discriminated against each year “for exercising their legal rights to join or form a union,” with more than 10,000 workers this year being fired or retaliated against for attempting to organize a union. Labor organizers are hoping that the new report will spur interest in the Employee Free Choice Act, a new piece of federal legislation designed to strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to join unions by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. In addition, the proposed legislation would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.
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