Kaiser, Greg Mathis, Human Rights Watch, Honored for Supporting Workers’ Rights

by James Parks, Apr 19, 2007

TV judge Greg Mathis has been an outspoken supporter of fair labor laws.

The workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work honored some of the nation’s leading advocates for workers’ rights April 18 at its Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award Celebration in Washington, D.C.

Kaiser Permanente was honored for its management-union partnership. For the past decade, company management and a coalition of unions representing health care workers and support staff have crafted a working relationship that solves problems and improves patient care.

American Rights at Work also honored award-winning TV judge Greg Mathis, who has been an outspoken supporter of fair labor laws. Earlier in the day, actor Bradley Whitford, who emceed the event, joined Mathis in a meeting with workers from across the country to discuss the barriers they have faced while attempting to join a union and bargain for fair treatment at work. At the meeting, Mathis posed the question:

What kind of world are we building for our young people when we allow workers’ rights to be disrespected and violated? We need to strengthen labor laws in this country to bridge the gap between our good intentions and today’s harsh realities in the workplace.

At last year’s NAACP convention, Mathis blasted the NLRB decision to reclassify 8 million workers as “supervisors.” In 2004, he backed laundry employees of Angelica Textile Services in their victorious campaign to join UNITE HERE by participating in a Jobs with Justice National Workers’ Rights Board hearing in St. Louis. 

Human Rights Watch, which exposes significant legal barriers to freedom of association in U.S. workplaces, also received an award. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says Human Rights Watch showed remarkable vision when it applied its credible and impartial research into human rights violations around the world to examining human rights abuses in U.S. workplaces. In 2000, Human Rights Watch issued a report that blasted the United States for its failure to enforce workers’ rights standards, including the freedom to form unions.   

The Kaiser partnership arose in a 1997 agreement between the health care provider and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which enabled new units of workers to choose a voice on the job by majority sign-up. Under majority sign-up, an employer agrees to recognize the union if a majority of workers expresses desire for a union by signing authorization cards. Overall, some 10,000 nurses, optometrists and physician assistants at Kaiser Permanente’s facilities are union members.

Says John August, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions:

Employees represented by the union coalition are committed to a high-performance vision. Workers want to perform and do the best job that they can. 

Kaiser Permanente demonstrated its commitment to the freedom of workers to join a union last year after the Republican-dominated National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted along party lines to slash protections under labor laws protecting workers’ freedom to form unions and opened the door for employers to classify millions of workers as supervisors. Under federal labor law, supervisors are prohibited from forming unions.

The company announced the NLRB decision would have no effect on employees in the partnership and agreed not to challenge the status of any current bargaining unit position’s job classifications or duties. 

In a statement congratulating the award winners, President Sweeney said Kaiser Permanente has demonstrated that  

a relationship based on mutual trust and respect produces results that are good for employers and workers alike. Since the program began, Kaiser reports a 20 percent reduction in workplace injuries, an increase in patient satisfaction and impressive cost reductions, as well as improved employee job satisfaction and retention. These gains have lifted not only Kaiser workers and the company, but also the communities they call home. The Partnership proves that companies are more successful when workers have a voice in their workplace and are genuine partners with management.        

Each year, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards honors those who, like Eleanor Roosevelt, use their influence and talent to support workers’ rights and economic justice. Last year’s honorees included author Studs Terkel, actor Danny Glover, musician Tom Morello and Cingular Wireless.