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Monday, September 1, 2003
Edwards Announces New Legislation To Protect America's Workers
Edwards Statement On Labor Day
DES MOINES, IA - This Labor Day, North Carolina Senator John Edwards announced that he will introduce legislation to protect the rights of American workers.
"President Bush wants to take away one of workers' fundamental rights-the right to organize," said Edwards. "He wants to take us back in time when profits and productivity reigned over people. That might be George Bush's way, but it sure isn't the American way.
"If we want to help working men and women provide a better life for themselves and their families, then we need to protect the basic rights of America's workers."
Today, the deck is stacked against workers seeking to join a union. According to the Dunlop Commission, appointed by the Clinton administration, one-quarter of employers illegally fire workers involved in union activity. In other instances, workers experience electronic surveillance, bribes, and unilateral changes in salaries and responsibilities.
The Dunlop Commission also found that employers violate workers' rights and are ordered to pay back wages to more than 20,000 workers each year - a dramatic increase from less than 1,000 in the 1950s. Because of the limited remedies at the National Labor Relation Board's disposal, employers often find it is cheaper to break the law than follow it.
"If we are serious about corporate responsibility, we have to hold corporations responsible when they break the law in order to break the union," Edwards added.
The legislation Edwards proposed today would overhaul the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the law that has governed union organizing since 1935. Among the elements of Edwards' proposal:
* Hold corporations accountable for violating workers' rights. Today, employees who are illegally fired for union activity often must wait months or years before getting a hearing on their case, and employers sometimes pay virtually no penalty even for serious legal violations. Edwards will ensure that dismissed workers get a prompt hearing and that strong financial penalties for breaking the law are in place to deter wrong doing.
* Create a meaningful right to negotiate first contracts. In almost one-third of elections, workers vote to have a union but still have no contract two years later because employers refuse to negotiate. Edwards will allow either employers or workers to refer contract disputes to a mediator when agreements cannot be reached.
* Allow card check recognition when workers strongly support a union. Under the NLRA, organizing a union is a long, cumbersome process which creates major opportunities for intimidation of workers. Many unions now organize outside the NLRA, winning employers' agreement to recognize the union once enough workers have signed cards expressing their support. To update the law and restore its viability, Edwards will allow workers to establish a union after a majority of workers have signed cards authorizing a union.
* Ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. When contract negotiations break down, workers should not have to risk everything in order to go on strike. Edwards would prohibit employers from permanently replacing striking workers.
www.johnedwards2004.com
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Very compelling ideas.
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