Workers' Rights
Labor Center Reports
Workers' Rights Overview
Workers' Rights Resources
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The formal right of workers in the U.S. to organize unions and bargain
collectively has been codified numerous times in legislation and court
interpretation. The landmark 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
assures most workers a variety of specific organizing rights. Section
7 of the NLRA grants workers the right to publicly support unionization
and submit grievances without reprisal. Section 8 explicitly prohibits
employers from punishing or discriminating against workers for union
activity.
Yet, despite these formal assurances, workers' rights to organize
are routinely violated by employers throughout the country through
both legal and illegal means. Human Rights Watch found that more than
23,000 workers in 1998 faced illegal reprisals for attempting to organize.
Employers commonly threaten to close plants, force employees to attend
anti-union presentations, and threaten to call the INS on undocumented
workers. A small, but sizable minority of workers, moreover, are not
covered by the National Labor Relations Act or any other sector-specific
federal or state legislation, and thus do not even enjoy the formal
legal right to organize and bargain collectively.
In this context, unions and worker advocates are seeking new, innovative
ways to protect workers rights. One prominent approach by unions is
to work outside the NLRA election framework by arranging voluntary
union recognition through "card check" neutrality agreements.
State government policy has also taken on greater importance for upholding
and enhancing labor standards and protecting workers' rights. California
has been in the lead of this trend. Recently passed laws provide greater
workplace protections, grant employee status and bargaining rights
for new categories of workers, prohibit use of state funds to support
or oppose union activity, and provide for mandatory arbitration for
first contracts for farm workers, among others. These laws have important
implications for unions and organizing in our state.
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Facts:
In thirty one percent of organizing campaigns, employers illegally fire union supporters.
Bronfenbrenner, Kate. 1994. "Employer Behavior in Certification Elections and First-Contract Campaigns: Implications for Labor Law Reform." In Friedman, Sheldon et al. (eds.), Restoring the Promise of American Labor Law. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, pp. 75-89
More than half of employers threaten to shut down plants if employees vote for a union.
Bronfenbrenner, Kate. 2001. Uneasy Terrain: The Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages, and Union Organizing. Part II: First Contract Supplement (U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission).
91% of employers force employees trying to organize unions to attend closed-door meetings where they are presented with anti-union messages.
Brofenbrenner, Katie. 1994
80% of employers respond to workers' efforts to organize by hiring outside consultants to run anti-union campaigns.
Ibid.
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