Murray supports NLRB rule change on union elections

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray has come out in support of the National Labor Relations Board’s modest proposed rule to remove roadblocks for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union. The goal of the proposed change is to remove some bureaucratic hurdles to conducting fair and timely union elections.

Here is the statement released Thursday by Sen. Murray:

“Workers and businesses across America deserve to have a fair and modern union election process, and the NLRB’s common-sense rule proposal will go a long way toward making that happen. Too many middle class families across America have been devastated in this economic crisis, and we owe it to them to make sure they have a fair system in the workplace that will allow them to make decisions that are right for them.  I’ve seen first-hand that workers and businesses operate most productively when the rules of the game are clear and fair to all sides. The NLRB’s proposed rule changes are a strong step in that direction, and I support them.”

Today, The New York Times publishes a story — Finally, nurses are set to vote on unionizing — explaining why this is so necessary:

It’s easier to be elected president than to win a union representation election these days. I’m looking at a 2004 photo of a little-known state senator, Barack Obama, addressing a rally at a West Side Chicago church on behalf of an organizing campaign at Resurrection Health Care, a nonprofit church-run group of hospitals. AFSCME is still at it and will finally get a representation election next Wednesday and Thursday among about 270 registered nurses at one of the group’s locations.