Stop GOP attack on fair union election rule in Congress

The following is cross-posted from AFL-CIO Now:

Last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) approved a new rule that makes modest changes in the procedures for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union. The rule that is due to take effect April 30 will help alleviate the delays, inefficiencies, abuse of process and unnecessary litigation, which plague the current system.

But congressional Republicans — backed by their corporate sponsors — are continuing the assault on the NLRB and workers’ rights they launched last year as the new rule was being considered. This time, they are trying to ram through a resolution that not only would kill the fair election rule, but would prevent the NLRB from issuing any similar rules in the future.

You can help stop this attack by clicking here to send a message to your senators and urge them to vote “NO” on S.J. Res. 36 when it comes to a vote later this week.

In an e-mail to union activists, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:

From statehouses across the country to Congress, the forces of the 1% are openly and brazenly waging war on workers. This attack on the NLRB is just the latest in this relentless series of nationally coordinated assaults on workers and collective bargaining rights. Rather than working together to create jobs, restore tax fairness and jumpstart our economy, extreme legislators are pushing divisive policies that put workers’ rights on the chopping block.

Overturning the fair election rule would:

• Resurrect the barriers workers face when they want a simple up-or-down vote on forming a union.
• Encourage costly delays and litigation, paving the way for employers who want to retaliate against workers.
• Make it even harder for employees to form a union and negotiate for fair pay and benefits, weakening the middle class and our chances at a brighter economic future.

Click here to send a message to your senators and urge them to vote “NO” on S.J. Res. 36.

Trumka says the new rule “is a modest but important step to help ensure that workers who want to vote to form a union at their workplace get a fair opportunity to do so.” But when it was proposed last year, business groups and Republican lawmakers went apoplectic and mounted a massive campaign against the NLRB.

In November, House Republicans approved a bill that gives employers new tools to combat and delay elections by workers who try to form unions. It was a direct response to the new NLRB election rule. The Senate didn’t take up the measure.

Congressional Republicans have made nearly 50 separate assaults on the NLRB since last year by holding hearings, issuing subpoenas and proposing bills to gut the agency’s funding and eliminate its ability to hold employers accountable for violating workers’ rights, according to American Rights at Work (ARAW). Click here for a detailed look.