Congress Takes On NLRB To Restore Workers' Rights

In September 2006, the Bush-packed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling that took away the federally protected right to form unions from 8 million workers.

Now, lawmakers in Congress are working to reverse those decisions, which opened the door for employers to take away union protections from workers in nearly every profession. On March 22, Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act (H.R. 1644 and S. 969).

The NLRB's new definition of supervisor essentially enables employers to many workers as supervisors as long as they have the authority to assign or direct another and who uses independent judgment. Under federal labor law, supervisors are not protected against retaliation for forming unions.

The board ruled that a worker could be classified as a supervisor if he or she spends as little as 10 percent to 15 percent of his or her time overseeing the work of others. That breaks down to less than an hour a day or one full shift every two weeks.

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