by Mike Hall, Jul 20, 2007

As many as 8 million workers face losing their right to join a union after a series of decisions (known as the Oakwood cases) last year by the Republican-led National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Those rulings greatly expanded and redefined the term “supervisor.” Supervisory workers are not eligible to join unions.

But workers and their allies on Capitol Hill are fighting back through the RESPECT Act (H.R. 1644 and S. 969) that can correct the NLRB’s flawed decisions that the group American Rights at Work terms the “supervisor scam.” The RESPECT Act clarifies the meaning of the term supervisor.

In a message to supporters urging them to contact their lawmakers to co-sponsor the RESPECT Act, the group points to Lori Gay, a registered nurse, whose employer classifies her as “supervisor.”

Lori Gay cannot join a union: “I am in charge of the pencil,” she laments. Lori is a registered nurse at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, where she estimates she spends about 10 minutes a day filling out an assignment sheet for the next shift of nurses. But that’s enough for her employer to say that she is a “supervisor,” which makes her ineligible to join a union.

Reclassifying workers is a quick and easy way for companies to stop union organizing drives. It’s also a cheap trick: this ‘title change’ does NOT come with a raise or more responsibilities.

With this policy, the Bush-appointed majority of the NLRB has robbed workers in nearly every industry of their right to form or join a union. Nurses, quality control inspectors, and retail employees are just some of the potentially millions affected who need unions to secure better working conditions.

Click here to go to American Rights at Work and send a message to your senators and representatives asking them to restore the rights of workers to join unions and co-sponsor the RESPECT Act.

Click here to read more about Lori Gay and other workers who testified before a U.S. House committee in May about the need for the RESPECT Act.

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