USA

A regional director for the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) on Monday called for a rerun of a union election at an Amazon.com Inc facility in Bessemer, Alabama. In its decision, the NLRB regional director said that Amazon “engaged in objectionable conduct that warrants setting aside the election”.

Workers at the warehouse had rejected forming a union by a more than two-to-one margin in April 2021 after an organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. drive that garnered support from U.S. lawmakers and President Joe Biden. In August, an NLRB hearing officer said the company’s conduct around the previous vote had interfered with the election.

“Today’s decision confirms what we were saying all along – that Amazon’s intimidation and interference prevented workers from having a fair say in whether they wanted a union in their workplace," Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement.

The company has forced thousands of employees to attend meetings about unions and posted signs critical of unions in bathrooms.

On 15 July 2021, national and international labour groups filed a complaint under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises alleging severe violations of workers’ freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework rights at the Luxottica manufacturing and distribution centre in McDonough, Georgia, USA.
The Communications Workers of American (CWA), joined by the AFL-CIO and two Geneva-based global unions, say that Luxottica plant managers in Georgia have unleashed an aggressive, fear-inducing campaign to thwart workers’ organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. rights, and that global management in Paris and Milan have failed to exercise due diligence to ensure compliance with OECD guidelines.
Luxottica is a division of the EssilorLuxottica group, the world’s largest provider of vision care and eyewear products, serving a global market with over 150,000 employees around the world. The Luxottica manufacturing and distribution centre in Georgia employs 2,000 U.S. workers.
The unions’ complaint cites management’s use of a company-issued app called “LiveSafe”. It was meant to inform workers on COVID-19 issues in the workplace, but instead management uses it to send anti-union broadsides about purported “risks” of union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. , including that workers might lose pay and benefits if they succeed in forming a union. In addition to the app, management has created an anti-union website vilifying unions and suggesting dire consequences if workers sign a union card or choose representation. The company also has hired anti-union consultants and required workers to attend mandatory, union-bashing “captive-audience” meetings with no opportunity for response by union supporters.

Exxon locked out 650 union workers from its Beaumont, Texas, plant on 1 May after the prior contract expired and there was no vote on the company’s proposed offer. The refinery, which makes gasoline and Mobil 1 motor oil, has continued to operate using managers and replacement staff.

The U.S. National Labour Relations Board said it had received a petition backed by signatures from at least 30 percent of workers represented by United Steelworkers union local 13-243, the minimum required to call for a decertification vote, to remove the union.

If the Beaumont employees approve a decertification, it would remove the USW as their bargaining agent bargaining agent A workers’ representative authorised to bargain collectively on behalf of workers in a bargaining unit.

See collective bargaining . There is no timetable set for a vote.

The USW said in a statement on Friday any vote would be tainted by “serious unfair labour practices” and accused Exxon of “misleading people with confusing statements regarding our union, our negotiations and the company’s spiteful lockout lockout A form of industrial action whereby an employer refuses work to its employees or temporarily shuts down operations. ”.

Following the first COVID-19 case at Reynolds American in May 2020, FLOC, the Farm Labour Organizing Committee, has criticized the continual blacklisting and exploitation on contract farms and lack of action from company management.
FLOC critiques the use of millions of dollars by Reynolds American and Phillip Morris International to form front groups like GAP Connections to hide industry abuses and avoid engaging with farmworkers to negotiate better conditions.
Far from engaging with workers to mitigate risks during the COVID-19 crisis, the companies are accused by FLOC of taking no action for months, only to donate a small number of masks through an industry front group that was recently caught trying to help a Reynolds grower exploit workers.
FLOC has called on Reynolds American to sign an agreement that includes funding for improved housing, transportation, and paid leave to save lives in their supply chain.

On 16 December 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed Lincoln Lutheran of Racine, an Obama Board decision that had overruled more than 50 years of precedent. Once more, the long relied-upon rule from Bethlehem Steel is back and an employer can lawfully unilaterally stop deducting union dues from its employees’ paychecks when a collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement (CBA) expires (in Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc., Case 28-CA-213783). 
This decision is a significant economic weapon that has been added back to the employer’s quiver. For many unions, the possibility of the employer no longer collecting union dues directly from the employees could put significant pressure on them. 

In a 3-1 decision on 16 December 2019, the United States National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that private sector employers covered by the NLRB are allowed to ban some union insignia. The decision will make it harder for employees to openly back unionisation campaigns while on the job. It upends a 75-year-old precedent that was established in the 1945 Republic Aviation Corp. v. Labor Board case. In doing so, the NLRB cited its 2017 Boeing ruling, which established a new test to determine whether employer rules are lawful: The court must weigh the rights of workers against the concerns of the employer. The lone dissent came from Democrat Lauren McFerran, who regretted that the decision “would not be a welcome development for workers.” 
Earlier in the year, the NLRB curtailed the ability of union organisers to leaflet and solicit on an employer’s property even when the employer had allowed other organisations to solicit on the property. It has long been the law that an employer cannot discriminate against the union message if it allows distribution and solicitation on its property by other groups. However, the NLRB redefined “discrimination” in the narrowest possible way so that employers may now give one group access to the employer’s property and deny it to other groups, including unions. In the case in question, a union was forbidden to solicit signatures for petition while the Salvation Army was allowed to solicit money (Kroger Limited Partnership, 368 NLRB No. 64, 2019). 
Furthermore, in the case regarding Caesars Entertainment, the NLRB found that the casino did not break the law by prohibiting employees from using their work email addresses for “non-business information”. In blocking potential unionising on these platforms, the board overturned an Obama-era decision which protected the right to share information regarding”wages, hours, or working conditions" via company email. 
Finally, in a 2019 decision, the Board changed the rules on access to nonwork, public spaces by ruling that a hospital could ban a union organiser from talking with nurses in the cafeteria at the hospital, even though the area is open to the public (UPMC, 368 NLRB No. 2, 2019).

The case of Kumho Tires is illustrative of US employers’ relentless attempts threatening and dismissing workers who attempt to organise unions. Kumho Tires, a Korean multinational company, operates a plant in Macon, Georgia, with about 325 employees. In 2017 the United Steelworkers (USW) began an organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaign. Key issues at the workplace are health and safety, and a lack of transparency about benefits, promotions and other issues. More than 80 per cent of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. 
The day after the union’s election petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the company hired a firm of union busters, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to attack the reputation of the Steelworkers (at least $373,000 in 2017 and 2018). Seven full-time union busters were employed. Workers were required to attend daily anti-union meetings that lasted for several hours, with managers telling them that the newly opened factory would be forced to close if they voted for a union. Workers were also required to attend many one-on-one anti-union meetings. The company created an anti-union website, which included a message from the mayor of Macon, urging them to vote against the union. 
In the election, held on October 12-13, workers voted 164 to 136 against union representation. On 17 October, the company fired Mario Smith, one of the leaders of the organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaign. 
The USW filed unfair labour practice charges with the NLRB. An administrative law judge upheld the charges, finding that the company’s illegal conduct was “pervasive” and that it warranted not only a new election, but the “extraordinary” remedy of requiring company officials to read a notice to employees outlining all of the violations. Kumho’s violations, Amchan said, included illegally interrogating employees, threatening to fire union supporters, threatening plant closure and creating an impression of surveillance, among other threats to workers. 
The second election was held on 5-6 September 2019. The USW won by 141-137, but 13 ballots were challenged. The Board is still reviewing the challenges and has not certified the result of the vote. 
On 6 September, during the election, the company suspended a union supporter, Victoria Whipple, without pay. At the time, Whipple was eight months pregnant. After the union publicised this action, the company reinstated Whipple two weeks later. 

In July 2019, the NLRB ruled that a group of 100–130 Walmart workers who engaged in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike of six days to demonstrate at Walmart’s annual shareholders’ meeting were engaged in an “intermittent” strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike that was not protected by labour law. As a result, Walmart faced no legal consequence for retaliating against the strikers, who included 29 workers who were striking for the first time. In determining that the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike was an unprotected “intermittent” strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , the Board made up a new legal test, saying that strikes that take place “pursuant to a ‘plan to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , return to work, and strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike again’” are not protected.

In June 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cut off negotiations with its primary union and announced it would unilaterally implement a new contract which severely limited telework, evicted union representatives from agency office space and restricted employees from filing grievances over disciplinary actions, among other changes. 
The EPA scaled back the use of official time, which allows agency employees to conduct representational activities on behalf of the union members while receiving taxpayer-funded salaries. Employees will now have to spend at least 75 per cent of their time conducting official agency business, and they cannot use official time to prepare grievances or cases before the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Currently, about a dozen EPA employees work full time on union business.

In April 2019, the United Automobile Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) submitted a filing to the NLRB for a representation election for all assembly-line production workers and skilled trades and maintenance workers in the plant. On 17 April, Volkswagen (VW) issued a letter to all Chattanooga employees saying: “We’ve heard the concerns that our workers have raised in an open dialogue. We intend to continue that open dialogue, but we believe we can achieve more for us all by continuing that open dialogue directly. The company will hold special information sessions and provide additional communication in the coming weeks.” 
Volkswagen has been resisting workers’ freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework in Chattanooga Tennessee for years. It is clear to the UAW that Volkswagen intended to avoid at all cost union representation in the assembly-line and, instead of open dialogue at a special information session, to conduct captive-audience meetings with workers to pressure them to vote against union representation. 
Elected officials threatened to withhold future economic incentives if workers voted for UAW representation. When the election finally took place, on 14 June 2019, the vote was 833–776 against UAW representation. 

The MGM Springfield casino security guards decided to hold a unionisation vote after promised pay raises failed to materialise. The management reacted by sending a letter to the whole staff, signed by the president, Michael Mathis. In the letter, the management urged workers to reject the union vote, describing labour organisers as “strangers” coming between workers and management.

The Fire Department of New York restricted one of its emergency medical services’ workers from duty for an entire year after he reached out to his union president for assistance on potential disciplinary charges. Over that time, he was suspended for 20 days and later forced to work in the Medical Supply Unit where he was essentially blocked from overtime. Similarly, FDNY management retaliated against another worker, a union executive board member, by allowing an emergency medical technician who threatened him and was transferred to come back to work at the same station. According to the union, this move had intimidating intent and effect. In both cases, the city’s Board of Collective Bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
decided in favour of the union’s claims.

During his speech before the Kentucky Association of County Officials in Lexington, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin engaged in extremely derogatory remarks about the teachers’ unions. He said: “... breaking the backs of the teachers union in this state as the controlling interest in Frankfort is going to be one of the best things that ever happened for Kentucky.” He said that the union “suffocates” good teachers and uses its membership dues “to maintain power for a handful”. Bevin also criticised teachers’ unions because “they use teachers’ dues to undermine what’s best for this state so they can maintain power for a handful at the expense of the students and their parents”.

Southcoast Health has hired a “union avoidance” consultant to discourage the registered nurses at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford from unionising. The Burke Group of Malibu, California, provides “union avoidance education” and, according to its website, boasts that 96 per cent of employees have “voted no, decertified or experienced petition withdrawal” in the more than 800 union elections in which it has participated. The same tactics were adopted by the University of Pittsburgh.

United Airlines engaged in an intense campaign aimed at preventing unionisation of its staff by UNITE HERE. The in-flight catering workers who prepare, pack, and deliver food to planes across the United States engaged in a unionisation campaign that extended to United Airlines workplaces at six major airports – Denver, Houston, Newark, San Francisco, Honolulu and Cleveland. Workers formally filed for union election in January of 2018. The company responded by filing a complaint alleging that the signatures were obtained through fraudulent means, claiming that organisers from UNITE HERE misrepresented themselves as United Airlines employees. Although the complaint was later dismissed, the action put on hold the unionisation campaign until August. Further, the company undertook a number of intimidating actions, including illegal surveillance of union activity, interrogation of workers’ opinions of the union, threats with job termination and cancellation of the flight benefits in case of a positive unionisation vote. The management installed flat screen TVs in the company’s break rooms that broadcasted anti-union messages 24 hours a day, and managers held one-on-one and small group meetings with employees to reinforce their anti-union message. In May, UNITE HERE filed a complaint with the NMB supported by 58 sworn declarations detailing the extent of the anti-union campaign being waged by United Airlines. On the day that the union filed for the election, United suspended three prominent union leaders in the Newark kitchen. The workers finally won recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. for their union after a successful vote held on 23 October.

In September 2018 thousands of workers – housekeepers, servers, cooks and doormen – from some of Chicago’s biggest hotels (including Palmer House Hilton, The Allegro Hotel on Randolph, the Drake on the Gold Coast and the JW Marriott) went on a 28-day strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to protest lack of healthcare and low wages. The hotels engaged in negotiations, but at the same time they hired temporary workers through United Temps to replace the strikers. Hundreds of these workers had to file a lawsuit because they were not paid for all of their work.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos criticising the company for allegedly distributing a 45-minute instructional video to managers at recently-acquired grocery chain Whole Foods on how to defuse union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. . The senators requested the full video distributed by Amazon to Whole Foods managers, any other materials pertaining to organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. activities and a list of law firms and consultants the company may have retained to help tamp down labour unrest.

Two migrant farmworkers on a tobacco farm in North Carolina owned by grower Randy Blalock were abused, denied work and then summarily fired after describing substandard living conditions to an inspector from the state Department of Labor. IUF affiliate the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) is supporting the workers in their conflict with the grower and is seeking to recover thousands of dollars in stolen wages. These two workers’ story reflects the experiences of many other tobacco farmworkers who have no freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and no union protection.

The decision by the US Supreme Court on the “Janus” case on 27 June 2018, which allows public sector workers who are not union members to benefit for free from union-negotiated collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, is a victory for corporate greed. The case is the culmination of a campaign financed by right-wing billionaires such as the notorious Koch brothers, aimed at suffocating unions to drive down wages and working conditions. This is a decision that will further undermine collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
in the US. Richard Trumka, president of the ITUC’s US affiliate the AFL-CIO, said: “In this case, a bare majority of the court, over the vigorous dissent of four justices, has conceded to the dark web of corporations and wealthy donors who wish to take away the freedoms of working people. Until it is overturned, this decision will be a political stain on what is intended to be the most honorable, independent body in the world. But more importantly, it will further empower the corporate elites in their efforts to thwart the aspirations of millions of working people standing together for a better life.”

In early 2017 the state of Iowa enacted an amendment to its public employment act governing public sector labour management relations. In doing so, the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) is now required to conduct a retention and recertification election approximately one year before the expiration of each and every collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement. If the majority of the employees in the bargaining unit bargaining unit A group of workers within a particular company, establishment, industry or occupation that constitutes an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.

See bargaining agent
– not the number of employees who cast votes – do not vote to retain and recertify the union, after the period to file written objections has elapsed, the union is immediately decertified as the representative. In an unprecedented move which has an unduly burdensome impact on public sector unions in Iowa, the amendments mandate that the unions pay in advance the fees and costs associated with any election in which the union is listed on the ballot, including initial certification, retention and recertification, and decertification elections.

Every year, thousands of charges are filed against employers by workers alleging discrimination because of their union membership or support, and every year the National Labor Relations Board awards millions of dollars in back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). to workers who have been unlawfully discharged. In 2017, employers were required to pay workers back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). and fines totalling more than USD 70 million, and more than 1,700 illegally terminated workers were offered reinstatement. Employers have sometimes given benefits to their non-unionised employees but – to deter future organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. efforts – denied the same benefits to employees who have chosen union representation. These tactics are often effective in suppressing workers’ rights to organise and engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.

Because of the latitude given to employers under U.S. law to campaign against unionisation and the weakness of the protections against outright anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

, a USD 4 billion union-busting industry has developed in the United States consisting of consultants who advise employers on tactics to employ during union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaigns to discourage and intimidate workers from exercising their rights to unionise. These outside consultants are hired by employers in more than 80 per cent of all organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. drives.

Studies have shown that in the vast majority of organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaigns, employers require workers to attend group “captive audience” meetings as well as one-on-one meetings with their supervisors to hear anti-union propaganda – tactics which are permitted under current law despite their intimidating effect on workers. An academic study of 2016 found that workers were required to attend captive audience meetings with top management in 89 per cent of all organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaigns surveyed and that a majority of employees were required to attend at least five of these meetings during the course of a campaign. In 66 per cent of the campaigns, workers were required to meet alone with their supervisors at least weekly.
Workers are also frequently threatened with layoffs and reduction in pay and benefits. In 57 per cent of the campaigns surveyed, workers were threatened that their workplace would shut down if they chose to be represented by a union, and that in 47 per cent of campaigns they were threatened with a loss of wages or benefits. In 64 per cent of campaigns, workers were interrogated about how they and other workers were going to vote, and 14 per cent were put under surveillance by their employer. To intimidate workers, 21 per cent of employers called police to do walkthroughs in the workplace, and 14 per cent brought in security guards or put up security fencing. Most egregiously, workers were discharged in 34 per cent of the campaigns.
For example, workers trying to organise at a Nissan factory in Canton, Mississippi, were called into numerous closed-door meetings and repeatedly told that the plant would close if workers voted in favor of unionisation. In the run-up to the vote, anti-union videos were played virtually non-stop on the factory floor.

Workers have no right to conduct meetings in the workplace without management being present. Union meetings must normally be conducted on non-working time, off the employers’ premises.

Columbia University has been repeatedly refusing to bargain with graduate student workers who voted to unionise in 2016. This appears to be a stalling tactic, with the university hoping that the Trump administration will appoint conservative judges to the National Labor Relations Board, which could overturn a decision by the Obama-era Board, which gave graduate workers the right to organise. The case is currently pending before the courts.
At the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company continues to refuse to bargain with representatives of the United Auto Workers (UAW), who won a representation election for the maintenance (skilled trades) workforce on 4 December 2015. The UAW was certified as the legally chosen bargaining representative for the maintenance workforce by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), on 14 December 2015. The UAW has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the NLRB regarding Volkswagen’s refusal to bargain. To this date, the employer continues to resist bargaining by fighting the union in court.
Many employers show bad faith in engaging in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, particularly in cases where the union is bargaining for a first contract. Although employers are required to bargain in good faith once a majority have voted for union representation, many employers use delaying tactics and other techniques to avoid reaching agreement. The typical remedy for an unlawful refusal to bargain is merely an order to bargain in the future, so there is little to deter employers who want to avoid bargaining. In 2010, the last year for which data is available, unions filed more than 9,100 charges alleging that employers failed to bargain in good faith. These charges accounted for more than 53 per cent of all unfair labor practice charges filed. In many instances, employers circumvented unions and unilaterally implements changes to employees’ terms and conditions of employment to avoid the bargaining process.

Remedies for violations of trade union rights are notoriously weak and often are not imposed until years after the violation. Employers who illegally fire workers for union activity are only required to pay back wages minus what the worker has earned in the meantime – a sum that is typically so negligible that employers consider it to be a “minor cost of doing business”. The only remedy imposed when an employer threatens workers with retaliation for union activity is a cease and desist order and a requirement that the employer post a notice saying it will not violate the law again, and the typical remedy for a refusal to bargain is simply an order to bargain in the future. These remedies are inadequate either to deter violations or to adequately compensate the victims of unlawful conduct.

In the public sector more than seven million federal, state and local government employees, representing more than a third of the public sector workforce, do not have the right to collectively bargain. These workers are considered to be managers or supervisors or they work for one of several agencies specifically exempted from coverage under the federal collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
law. This exclusion also applies to some six million state and local government workers in more than 20 states that do not provide collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights to any public employees and the additional 20-plus states that allow collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
only for workers in specific occupational categories. Federal employees and public employees in most states are prohibited from striking by law.
Specifically, prior to 2011 transportation security officers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had no collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights. Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) are granted limited collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights not by law but based on TSA’s determination to grant the rights. In 2014, former TSA Administrator John Pistole further limited the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights of TSOs. The 2014 determination repudiates or revises many of the new rights and benefits that AFGE obtained for the bargaining unit bargaining unit A group of workers within a particular company, establishment, industry or occupation that constitutes an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.

See bargaining agent
through its arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation victories.

Workers employed as guards (defined as someone charged with protecting their employer’s property or persons on the premises) are significantly restricted in their ability to form and join unions of their own choosing because federal law allows employers to refuse to bargain with a union representing guards if the union also admits into membership any nonguard workers.

Union publications have sometimes been limited or prohibited. Under U.S. labour law, unions have no right to maintain their own bulletin boards in employer workplaces, and the employer is not required to allow the union to post notices on its bulletin boards unless it permits workers to use the bulletin boards to post other, non-work-related material. Employers may also establish rules prohibiting the distribution of union literature in work areas, even if the employer itself distributes materials in those areas. Although workers generally have the right to distribute news and leaflets in non-work areas, these rights are frequently violated during union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaigns.

In the United States, more than 30 jurisdictions provide for binding arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation to resolve collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
disputes for public employees who are prohibited from strikes. These laws typically allow arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation to be invoked by one party regardless of whether there is consent by the other.

Replacement workers have been hired in numerous strikes in the past year. For example, during a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communication Workers of America at Fairpoint Communications in Maine, the company advertised to hire replacement workers at a salary three times the pay received by workers before the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , despite refusing to raise wages and fund benefits.

During 2015, private employers refused to negotiate regarding changes in employee duties and participation in a new training program, as in the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision in Olean General Hospital, 363 NLRB No. 62 (2015).
At the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company continues to refuse to bargain with representatives of the United Auto Workers (UAW), who won a representation election for the maintenance (skilled trades) workforce on 4 December 2015. The UAW was certified as the legally chosen bargaining representative for the maintenance workforce by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), on 14 December 2015. The UAW has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the NLRB regarding Volkswagen’s refusal to bargain.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an agency of the US government, has repeatedly refused to bargain with the American Federation of Government Employees. In fact, in the most recent round of negotiations, TSA would not bargain with the union concerning a negotiated grievance and arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation procedure because TSA claimed the topic was non-negotiable. AFGE is restricted to national-level bargaining, as TSA has explicitly prohibited local bargaining.

In 2015, the Governor of Illinois issued an executive order prohibiting the transfer of union dues despite an existing check-off check-off A system where union dues and fees are automatically deducted by the employer from the workers’ paychecks and then remitted to the respective union. agreement for all state employees that were not full members, but instead fee payers of a union, instead placing the dues in an escrow account. The Governor then filed an action seeking a declaratory judgment from the federal courts that the State’s existing check-off check-off A system where union dues and fees are automatically deducted by the employer from the workers’ paychecks and then remitted to the respective union. agreement violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Workers have no right to conduct meetings in the workplace without management being present. Union meetings must normally be conducted on nonworking time, off the employers’ premises.
Additionally, as described previously, although it is illegal for an employer to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of a union or to contribute financial or other support to it, violations of the law do occur.
For several years, workers at T-Mobile USA, whose parent company is Deutsche Telecom from Germany, have been attempting to organise a union. T-Mobile has opposed those efforts. In 2015, an Administrative Law Judge found that eleven different corporate policies maintained at T-Mobile violated federal labour law, as the policies restricted employees’ freedom to organise and communicate with one another about terms and conditions of employment. These corporate policies constituted nationwide interference with T-Mobile employees’ freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework . Also in 2015, another Administrative Law Judge found that the company had imposed unlawful gag orders on workers involved in internal investigations, even threatening to fire one employee who complained about sexual harassment if she discussed the matter with her co-workers. Since 2011, the company has been the subject of more than a dozen government complaints across the United States for violations of the right to organise and collectively bargain, ranging from unlawful firings and unlawful surveillance, to other forms of interference with workers’ organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. activity. Members of the US Congress have reached out to the German government about T Mobile’s labour practices.

Every year, thousands of charges are filed against employers alleging discrimination against workers because of their union membership or support, and every year the National Labor Relations Board awards millions of dollars in back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). to workers who have been unlawfully discharged. In FY 2015, the last year for which data is available, employers were required to pay workers back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). and fines totalling more than USD 95 million, and more than 2,100 illegally terminated workers were offered reinstatement. Employers have sometimes given benefits to their non-unionised employees but denied the same benefits to employees who have chosen union representation to deter future organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. efforts. These tactics are often effective in suppressing workers’ rights to organise and engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.
In another example, a Mexican-owned chain of supermarkets called El Super has repeatedly violated U.S. labour law. In 2014 and 2015, Regions 21 and 28 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued complaints in response to numerous unfair labour practice charges. Allegations against El Super’s conduct in these complaints included:
• Interfering, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of their protected rights;
• Threatening employees because of union activities;
• Interrogating employees about their union activities;
• Spying on workers’ union activities;
• Disciplining and discharging employees because of union activities; and
• Refusing to bargain in good faith with the UFCW at union-represented stores.
In 2015, the National Labor Relations Board sought two federal court injunctions against El Super’s conduct, one in California and one in Arizona. The Arizona case settled after the NLRB filed its request for an injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. , and the company agreed to the remedies sought. In California, the presiding federal district court judge for the Central District of California issued an injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. . This is an extraordinary remedy that is only granted when workers face “irreparable harm”. Constrained by the injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. and faced with a trial before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge in California, El Super settled the unfair labour practice charges raised in the complaint upon which the injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. was sought in August of 2015.
Unfortunately, neither the injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. nor the settlement agreements have ended El Super’s conduct that runs afoul of US labour law.

Workers have no right to conduct meetings in the workplace without management being present. Union meetings must normally be conducted on nonworking time, off the employers’ premises. Additionally, although it is illegal for an employer to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of a union or to contribute financial or other support to it, violations of the law do occur. In fiscal year 2010, the last year for which the government collected this data, 539 charges alleging violations of the prohibition against employer domination or interference with a union were filed. These charges constituted 3.1% of the 17, 145 unfair labour practices filed against employers by workers and unions that year.

Workers in the U.S. are restricted in their ability to engage in picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. and other forms of protest on employers’ property. The law also prohibits secondary picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. and limits picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. which has as its objective organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. workers or obtaining recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. from the employer.
For example, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its community affiliate, OUR Walmart, which has been engaging in nationwide demonstrations at Wal-Mart stores protesting retaliation against Wal-Mart workers for speaking out for better pay, fair schedules, and affordable health care, had to disavow any intent to represent Wal-Mart workers and promise not to picket for a period of 60 days to forestall the government from going to court to obtain an injunction injunction A court order prohibiting or preventing a certain course of action, such as calling or continuing with a strike. to stop demonstrations.
Additionally, union publications have sometimes been limited or prohibited. Under U.S. labour law, unions have no right to maintain their own bulletin boards in employer workplaces, and the employer is not required to allow the union to post notices on its bulletin boards unless it permits workers to use the bulletin boards to post other, non-work related material. Employers may also establish rules prohibiting the distribution of union literature in work areas, even if the employer itself distributes materials in those areas. Although workers generally have the right to distribute news and leaflets in non-work areas, these rights are frequently violated during union organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. campaigns.

The NLRA and judicial decisions interpreting the law prohibit workers from engaging in sitdown strikes, partial strikes and secondary boycotts, and impose other restrictions on organisational or recognitional strikes. Workers at certain health care institutions must provide 10 days’ advance notice before engaging in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike or picketing picketing Demonstration or patrolling outside a workplace to publicise the existence of an industrial dispute or a strike, and to persuade other workers not to enter the establishment or discourage consumers from patronising the employer. Secondary picketing involves picketing of a neutral establishment with a view to putting indirect pressure on the target employer. such as intermittent strikes, secondary boycotts and other forms of mutual aid and protection.

Although direct dealing with individual employees is unlawful once an exclusive bargaining agent bargaining agent A workers’ representative authorised to bargain collectively on behalf of workers in a bargaining unit.

See collective bargaining has been designated by the majority, violations are not uncommon. For example, in the case of Hotel Bel-Air, 358 NLRB No. 152 (2012), decided by the National Labor Relations Board in September 2012, the employer was found to have engaged in unlawful direct dealing when it wrote a letter proposing severance benefits in return for a waiver of recall rights directly to employees who were being laid off, sidestepping the union. The letter began by stating that the respondent was “very happy to give you [the employee] the opportunity to decide for yourself whether you want to accept the” offer of severance pay.

In FY 2010, the last year for which data are available, unions filed more than 9,100 charges alleging that employers failed to bargain in good faith. These charges accounted for more than 53% of all unfair labour practice charges filed. In many instances, employers circumvented unions and unilaterally implemented changes to employees’ terms and conditions of employment to avoid the bargaining process.

During 2013 and 2014, private employers were often likely to refuse to negotiate regarding changes in employee benefits plans, as in the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decisions in the Tesoro Los Angeles Refinery, 360 NLRB No. 46 (Feb. 20, 2014) and Enterprise Leasing Co., 359 NLRB No. 149 (July 2, 2013), cases.

In February 2014, Tennessee Republican politicians—including U.S. Senator Bob Corker, Governor Bill Haslam, State Senator Bo Watson, State House Speaker Beth Harwell and State House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick—initiated several weeks of intense anti-union campaigning at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee prior to a major election. The politicians urged workers to vote against the United Auto Workers in the election, threatening to withhold tax and financial benefits from the company if the workers chose to be represented by the union. The United Auto Workers have filed an objection with the National Labor Relations Board to set aside the election because the politicians’ interference violated U.S. labour law’s requirement that workers have the right to vote in union elections in an atmosphere free of coercion, intimidation, and interference.

Employers sometimes attempt to dominate or interfere with the formation of unions or contribute support to particular unions. In FY 2010, the last year for which the government collected this data, 539 charges alleging violations of the prohibition against employer domination or interference with a union were filed. These charges constituted 3.1% of the 17,145 unfair labour practices filed against employers by workers and unions that year. In some instances, employer favouritism towards one union in a contested election may provide a basis for setting aside the results of the election and directing a new election, as in the National Labor Relations Board’s decision in Seton Medical Center/ Seton Coastside, 360 NLRB No. 60 (2014), in which election results were set aside because an employer discriminatorily provided preferential access for one union to engage in electioneering while denying a rival union similar opportunities.

Between 2011 and 2014, over 1,000 bills seeking to eliminate or curtail collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights for public employees have been introduced in state legislatures. A number of these bills were enacted into law.

The most notorious was legislation introduced in Wisconsin in February 2011. The legislation strips away most of public sector workers’ bargaining rights, limiting bargaining to negotiations over wages only (subject to a cap based on inflation); prohibiting collective agreements of more than one year’s duration; and requiring annual union recertification votes to determine if workers can continue to have union representation. The anti-collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
bill spurred demonstrations in the state capital of over 100,000 protestors at a time in 2011. While resistance to the law continued in court through 2012, it appears that a vast majority of the provisions will not be overturned by courts.

Also in 2011, Ohio legislators enacted a similar bill, which raised additional barriers to public sector strikes and eliminated binding arbitration arbitration A means of resolving disputes outside the courts through the involvement of a neutral third party, which can either be a single arbitrator or an arbitration board. In non-binding arbitration, the disputing parties are free to reject the third party’s recommendation, whilst in binding arbitration they are bound by its decision. Compulsory arbitration denotes the process where arbitration is not voluntarily entered into by the parties, but is prescribed by law or decided by the authorities.

See conciliation, mediation to resolve contract disputes. However, the anti-collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
bill in Ohio was soundly defeated by public referendum at the end of 2011.

The organised effort to push through anti-collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
laws state-by-state continued in 2012, when five states passed prohibitions on collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
for some piece of the public sector workforce. The most notable anti-worker legislation to take effect was in Michigan, where 17% of the workforce is unionised, and a number well above the national average of 11%. The Michigan legislation prohibits automatic dues deduction for public school employees, bans union security clauses for public and private sector unions (“right-to-work” provisions), and prohibits graduate assistants, child care workers, and home health care workers from collectively bargaining. These extensive anti-worker restrictions were pushed through by conservative legislators with specific provisions added solely to circumvent the ordinary right of citizens to petition for repeal by referendum.

Republican legislatures in other states also pushed to expand the reach of so-called “right-to-work” laws. Under those laws, unions—which are required by law to provide equal representation services to workers in the bargaining unit bargaining unit A group of workers within a particular company, establishment, industry or occupation that constitutes an appropriate unit for the purpose of collective bargaining.

See bargaining agent
regardless of whether or not they are union members—are prohibited from charging service fees to non-members. “Right-to-work” laws provide financial incentives to workers not to join the union and pay dues, since by not joining they can receive the benefit of the collective agreement and grievance and other representation services from the union without having to share in the cost of those services. These laws produce a drop in union membership as “free riders” cancel the payment of dues.

In 2012, the Michigan and Indiana Legislatures passed “right-to-work” laws. Although certain provisions within these laws have been or are being challenged in court, most of their provisions will likely remain in effect. The trend continued in 2013, as 19 states introduced “right-to-work” bills and proposed state constitutional amendments to entrench “right-to-work” principles.

In addition to a flurry of “right-to-work” bills, 2012 and 2013 saw the introduction in dozens of states of so-called “paycheck protection” bills. Those bills are designed to make it difficult for unions to collect dues from their members, and to use dues from members for political or advocacy purposes.

With regard to public employees, these bills would prohibit state employers from agreeing to allow union members to pay their dues to the union through automatic payroll deductions—this either altogether or with respect to any portion of their dues that the union uses for political purposes.

With regard to private sector employers, the bills would not prohibit such payroll deductions (which are permitted under federal law) but would require that the individual employee reauthorise the deduction every year in order for it to continue.

Teachers have been specifically targeted. The states’ use of both unilateral contract changes and systematic closures of unionised schools (which are reopened as non-union charter schools) has become increasingly popular throughout 2012 and 2013. In 2013, more than half of American states attempted to pass legislation to promote charter schools or private school vouchers. State legislators and officials have implemented various restrictions on teachers’ collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, including prohibiting teachers from bargaining over layoffs, shortening maximum contract length, unilaterally imposing terms of employment, and, in some cases, abolishing collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
altogether.

In 2013, municipal bankruptcies and preemptive efforts to limit public employees’ pensions and benefits were a major threat to workers’ rights. In 2013, Detroit filed for bankruptcy, and a United States Bankruptcy Court judge issued a ruling that allowed the city to move forward with developing a restructuring plan. The proposed plan would slash public sector employees’ pension rights. Under the proposal, most public employees and retirees are facing up to a 34 per cent cut in their pension benefits, along with the elimination of cost of living adjustments. Police and fire retirees face up to a 10% cut.

While the Detroit bankruptcy is the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history, there have been several other recent city and county bankruptcies that also dramatically reduced workers’ pension and compensation. In 2013, legislatures in 8 states enacted various forms of legislation designed to preemptively limit public employees’ pension benefits. Workers’ rights advocates are deeply concerned by these trends and continue to urge that workers and retirees should not be forced to bear the costs of municipalities’ financial distress.

The U.S. government does not maintain a formal tri-partite consultative body to address labour law and policy. There are some opportunities for consultation, as with the Labour Advisory Committee within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Some government agencies seek input from interested parties by conducting notice-and-comment rulemaking prior to formulating new regulations or policies. Unions may also file amicus curiae briefs in court and agency adjudications to provide their views on disputed matters that will affect labour law or policy.
Far from consulting with unions regarding labour law and policy, some states and U.S. politicians have taken deliberate steps to roll back workers’ collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights.

Transnational cereal maker Kellogg’s has locked out 220 members of the IUF-affiliated BCTGM since October 22 2013 at its factory in Memphis, Tennessee in an effort to force union acceptance of a plan to radically increase the use of casual workers. With this plan all newly employed workers would be employed as casuals with no guaranteed hours at significantly lower pay and benefits, effectively transforming over time the entire employment structure at the facility. The company calls this “The New Workforce of the Future”.

Kellogg’s organized this assault while the Master Agreement of 2012, which limits casual work, is still in force. The union insists that casual work must be negotiated within the framework of the agreement - and their members are watching the end of year festivities approach from the street side of the factory gate.

The US National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint on 16 January 2014 against giant retailer Walmart, saying it violated labour rules by threatening and punishing workers who joined pro-union protests.

The complaint says that the country’s largest employer and a long-time foe of unions violated employee rights in 14 states during the November 2012 Thanksgiving holiday protests.

The NLRB complaint, which consolidates a number of separate cases, involves more than 60 employees, including 19 who were fired or laid off illegally after taking part in the protests.

It names 60 Walmart supervisors and one corporate officer for taking action against workers that allegedly violated their rights.

At stores in numerous states, Walmart “unlawfully threatened, disciplined and/or terminated employees” for legally joining the protests and engaging in other legal activities that November, the NLRB said in a statement.

“The National Labour Relations Act guarantees the right of private-sector employees to act together to try to improve their wages and working conditions with or without a union.”

The NLRB issued the complaint after giving the company time to reach settlements with complainants that did not resolve the problems.

The complaint related to a nationwide campaign by pro-union Walmart workers and supporters from union groups during the 2012 Thanksgiving weekend, normally the heaviest shopping period of the year.

Replacement workers were hired in numerous strikes during 2012, most notably in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike against Caterpillar Inc., which despite earning a record $4.9 billion in profits in 2011 insisted on a six-year wage freeze and a pension freeze for most of the production workers at its Joliet, Illinois plant.

In 2012, the National Football League locked out its referees and hired replacement referees. Most notoriously, 1,300 workers spread across five plants in the Midwest have been locked out by American Crystal Sugar since August 2011, with replacement workers performing their jobs.

The processes for resolving unfair labour practices are notoriously slow. On September 30, 2009, the last year for which data is available, the median age of an unfair labour practice case awaiting decision by the Board was 963 days. In other words, half of the cases pending involved charges that had been filed more than two and a half years earlier. Once an order has been issued determining that a violation has occurred that requires a back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). remedy, a supplemental compliance proceeding begins to determine the amount of back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). owed, and if the employer refuses to voluntarily comply, the process of obtaining a court order enforcing the Board’s order can add another year to the total.

The snail’s pace of Board proceedings is well illustrated by the horrendous case of Domsey Trading and the 200 mostly Haitian-born workers who are still awaiting compensation 23 years after their rights were viciously violated by their employer. The case began in October of 1989 when about 100 employees of Domsey, a seller of used clothing and textiles in New York City, met at a church to discuss forming a union. Upon learning of the organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. effort, the employer embarked on a campaign of terror against the union which included, as found by the National Labour Relations Board, “harassing employees on the job by cursing at them and insulting them, or by making obscene comments and obscene gestures at them, or by spitting on them or making faces at them, or by making disparaging remarks or gestures, or by touching them or subjecting them to verbal abuse, or by throwing things at them ... threatening to assault employees or physically assaulting them or causing them to be assaulted or struck by clothing bundles or any other object ... or assaulting representatives of the Union or throwing rocks at them, or damaging or spitting on the automobiles of representatives of the Union, in the presence of its employees ... threatening employees with discharge or reprisals ... engaging in surveillance ... threatening employees with the loss of paid sick days and holidays ... [and] threatening employees with dismissals or reprisals”; as well as refusing to reinstate the workers after they engaged in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in protest against the employer’s conduct.

In 1993, three years after the events in question, the National Labour Relations Board found that the employer had committed numerous violations of law before, during and after the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and ordered the strikers reinstated and compensated. The employer, however, refused to comply with the Board order, causing the Board eventually to go to court for an order enforcing its decision, which the court issued in 1994. More than three years then passed before the NLRB, in August 1997, and it was two years after that, in 1999, that a decision was finally issued determining that the employer owed USD $1,075,614.30 in back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). to the 202 strikers. By this time, nearly 10 years had passed since the unlawful conduct, but the employer through a series of court appeals was able to open a new line of defence based on claims that the workers were undocumented and therefore not entitled to back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). . And while those defences were being litigated, the owner stripped the company of its assets. In January 2013 a court found the owner individually liable for the back pay back pay Wages or benefits due an employee for past employment. Often awarded when the employee has been unfairly dismissed. Not to be confused with retroactive pay (delayed payment for work previously done at a lower wage rate). owed, but because the issue of the workers’ immigration status is still being litigated, they have still received no remedy for the violation of their rights. See NLRB v. Domsey Trading Corporation, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 2454 (2d. Cir.)

In the private sector, managerial and supervisory employees, independent contractors and domestic workers have no right to form or join union, nor do agricultural workers except in a small number of states. These excluded categories of workers constitute approximately 15% of the private sector workforce. In the public sector, workers cannot be prevented from or punished for forming or joining organisations of their own choosing, including unions. However, as noted below, more than 7 million federal, state and local government employees, representing more than a third of the public sector workforce, do not have the right to collectively bargain—an essential corollary of the right to form unions.

Although workers whose rights have been violated may file unfair labour practice charges with the National Labour Relations Board, remedies for violations are notoriously weak and often are not imposed until years after the violation. Employers who illegally fire workers for union activity are only required to pay back wages minus what the worker has earned in the meantime—a sum that is typically so negligible that, as a 2000 report by Human Rights Watch concluded, employers consider it to be a “minor cost of doing business”. The only remedy imposed when an employer threatens workers with retaliation for union activity is a cease and desist order and a requirement that the employer post a notice saying it will not violate the law again, and the typical remedy for a refusal to bargain is simply an order to bargain in the future. These remedies are inadequate either to deter violations or to adequately compensate the victims of unlawful conduct.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reported in 2011 that in the year ending September 30, 2009, as a result of complaints brought to the agency, 1,549 workers who had been illegally discharged or denied employment because of their union activities were offered reinstatement. In addition, 15,554 workers received backpay totalling USD 76.8 million.
Experts consider these numbers to reflect only a portion of the total number of workers illegally terminated or discriminated against, since many workers never file charges.

During 2011, a number of high-ranking government officials and candidates for high office openly expressed their hostility to unions and workers’ exercise of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework .

The newly-elected Republican governor of South Carolina, for example, announced to the press that she was appointing a lawyer specialising in “union avoidance” to head the state’s department of labor because “we’re going to fight the unions and I needed a partner to help me do it”. Notwithstanding that there are more than 59,000 union members in South Carolina, she subsequently declared in a televised address to the state legislature that her administration would “make the unions understand they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome in the state of South Carolina”.

Mitt Romney, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, ran televised campaign ads in which he referred to the members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the government agency which administers the federal labour law, as “union stooges”. He, and other Republican candidates for the presidency, repeatedly attacked unions and the NLRB during televised candidate debates.

Over the years, in a number of cases before the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights ’s Committee on Freedom of Association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , the U.S. has been found to be in violation of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework principles - for example, by permitting the use of permanent striker replacements (1991), by denying workers the right to meet with union representatives in the workplace to discuss organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. (1991), by imposing restrictions on secondary boycotts (1992), by denying undocumented workers meaningful remedies for anti-union retaliation (2003), by denying collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
rights to airport screeners (2006), by the maintenance of state laws that prohibit collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
by public employees (2007), by excluding low-level supervisors from the protection of the National Labor Relations Act (2008) and by subjecting transit union officials to imprisonment, the union to fines in excess of USD1 million, and individual workers to financial penalties for engaging in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in violation of a state law prohibiting strikes by public employees (2011). None of these violations have been remedied.