Resurrection Health Care Cited as Major Violator of Workers’ Rights

by James Parks, Oct 5, 2007

We reported earlier on the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC’s) annual survey of trade union rights violations, which listed the most dangerous countries for union members. The report also pointed out there is growing government hostility to fundamental workers’ rights in some industrialized countries, including the United States. 

In the United States, the report says many employers launch fierce union-busting campaigns to defeat workers’ desire to form a union. It mentions that more than 30 million workers are still denied basic collective bargaining rights by law, including 40 percent of all federal public-sector workers.  

One of the worst offenders in this country is Resurrection Health Care, where 10,000 workers for four years have been fighting to win a voice at work with AFSCME Council 31 in the face of intense management opposition. Resurrection management has threatened, harassed and intimidated employees.

The Brussels, Belgium-based ITUC notes that last year the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against Resurrection, alleging that the second largest nonprofit hospital system in the Chicago area violated federal law by “interfering with, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed” under federal labor law.

The ITUC also cited seven other U.S. employers for violating workers’ rights—Blue Diamond Growers, Verizon Business, Consolidated Biscuit Co., Chas Roberts Air Conditioning, Reynolds American Inc., New York University and Krug-Mondavi Vineyards.

Click here to read more about the ITUC’s citation of Resurrection on AFSCME’s website.

Click here to see the section of the ITUC report on the United States and here for the full report. 

This increasingly worldwide anti-worker environment in the United States and around the world is part of the reason the AFL-CIO will host the first ever global organizing summit Dec. 10–11 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. Delegates will lay the groundwork for and discuss global strategies to help workers join unions. The summit opens on International Human Rights Day, a time when U.S. unions traditionally mobilize to restore the freedom to join unions. 

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