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AFL-CIO blogby James Parks, Oct 25, 2007
Instead of fulfilling its mission to protect workers and promote collective bargaining, in recent years the Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has systematically reduced the freedom of workers to join unions. The abuses have been so egregious that the AFL-CIO today took the unusual step of filing a complaint with the International Labor Organization (ILO) charging the Bush administration’s NLRB with denying workers’ rights in violation of international labor standards.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says:
Under Bush, America’s labor board has so failed our nation’s workers that we must now turn to the world’s international watchdogs to monitor and intervene. The Bush labor board is kryptonite for America’s workers. There is no historic precedent for such aggressive efforts by the Board to curtail workers’ rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining.
The complaint highlights numerous NLRB cases over the course of several years, including a particularly egregious set of decisions issued by the NLRB in late September. Many of the 61 decisions issued last month continue the erosion of workers’ rights begun in earlier years by the board.
In case after case, the Bush NLRB has denied workers’ rights while protecting employers. For example, in a partisan vote, the board ruled Sept. 29 that if employers voluntarily recognize a union based on union authorization cards (also known as majority sign-up), anti-union employees have 45 days to petition for a decertification election, and the employer must notify employees of this 45-day window.
Read more:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/10/25/afl-cio-files-international-complaint-charging-bush-nlrb-with-assault-on-workers-rights/