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posted by martyb on Friday July 22 2016, @06:40PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-longer-second-class-citizens dept.

Bosses do not need consent for temps to unionize in mixed bargaining units

Working In These Times reports

[In a 3-1 decision,] the National Labor Relations Board on [June 11] overturned a Bush-era standard that said a union could only organize a bargaining unit of jointly employed and regular employees if both employers consented--even if those employees worked together closely. "Jointly employed" includes temps who are hired through staffing agencies.

The new decision allows jointly employed temps to bargain collectively in the same unit with the solely employed workers they work alongside, ruling that bosses need not consent so long as workers share a "community of interest".

[...] In this new ruling from Miller & Anderson, Inc., the Board returns to a standard set in 2000, during the Clinton administration, in a case called M.B. Sturgis, Inc., which was overruled in Oakwood [Care Center].

[...] In a statement announcing the ruling, the NLRB said, "requiring employer consent to an otherwise appropriate bargaining unit desired by employees, Oakwood has ... allowed employers to shape their ideal bargaining unit, which is precisely the opposite of what Congress intended".

The ruling represents a blow to corporations that have moved forcefully, sometimes overwhelmingly, toward using temporary workers in an effort to block worker benefits and collective bargaining.


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @07:37PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @07:37PM (#378735)

    Now can we get the opportunity to have multiple unions per workplace? Like, if we discover that our representative union is, like, PURELY HYPOTHETICALLY run by mobsters who bury our real complaints, misrepresent our interests, and suck management dick on alternate Thursdays, we could change unions?

    Maybe we could even get it so that the union didn't bury the complaints against their own stewards who are currently untouchable? That would be fun!

    Oh, hey, while I'm dreaming, could we get it so that the unions are held responsible if they ask for something the worker body manifestly does not want, and fail to push issues we do care about? So we could, like, kick them out?

    OK, I know, I know, union accountability is evil because corporate boss something something eight hour workday something paid vacations blahblahblah ... I'll see myself to the re-education facility, comrades ...

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @08:44PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @08:44PM (#378765)

    Open to suggestions on how else workers should address unfair labor practices.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @09:20PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @09:20PM (#378784)

      Multiple unions would be OK. If they don't have a monopoly on a body of workers, it would help.

      In fact, you could do it like this:

      Companies contract with unions for staff. Unions hire people. For extra feel-goods, make the unions cooperatives.

      Union members can change unions at any time to follow the work, and working conditions they like. Companies don't get to have a say in who joins which unions, and neither do unions (except for kicking out crooks and malingerers), but unions that are competent at holding it all together get to keep the staff and the contracts. Unions that can't keep things clearly productive lose contracts from companies, unions that can't keep their workers happy end up without workers. Companies deal with whichever unions give the best offers, but can't come down on individual workers - they have to deal with the union. Anybody below the C-suite has the option to join or form a union at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all, or to abandon their union should they choose to do so.

      That would eliminate the vast majority of gripes around current unions, in terms of corruption, nepotism, corporate and criminal capture, and political fantasies. You could have unions that prefer specific political approaches, so that workers don't feel their dues are being hijacked by a political approach they hate.

    • (Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Friday July 22 2016, @10:13PM

      by GungnirSniper (1671) on Friday July 22 2016, @10:13PM (#378819) Journal

      We need a new democratic type of union that takes advantage of public companies' stock purchase plans. This would provide a long-accepted path for workers having a say in the operations by making them owners themselves. By doing so they become a mutually beneficial partner to the company's overall health and profits, rather solely a self-interested party. A similar concept where the union is represented on the company's board works well in Germany, where there is much less labor strife.

      The next step would be to disallow unions to financially support any candidate, similar to the Democrats' push against corporate money in politics. As self-identified libertarian who was assigned Republican at birth, my first and foremost complaint against being in a union myself is that it will give my money to candidates I likely do not support under the guise of knowing what is better for me than I do for myself. That may have been appropriate when the general level of education was below high school, but it is overly-patriarchal today.

      The third step is to require all union officers work their original jobs at least 50% of the time, so they are not aloof to the happenings in the workplace. Each site should have a union representative, and they should only use 20% of their time on union duties. Term limits should also disallow more than two limited terms. Any union job I've been at does not have anyone on site at all.

      Fourth, have union members vote on policies. It seems that legacy union rules often get in the way of getting things done. For example at a government-contracted lab I was at, we "software IT" people could not open cases, install basic parts or so much as pickup a screwdriver. All because once upon a time that was a specialized skill for "hardware IT" for touching machines worth $10,000+, not the mass-produced 500 dollar boxes that are everywhere now.

      And finally, for those forever opposed to being compelled to join any organization for the sake of a job, union membership should not be mandatory. No closed shops, no compelled shared negotiation fees, especially in government positions. The recent Supreme Court tie that prevented full opt-outs may have been celebrated as a win for unions, but it was actually a loss because it removes a key motivation to reform themselves.

      I would go so far as to say unions should never be allowed in government, since it gives those workers additional undemocratic representation in our political processes.

      • (Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Friday July 22 2016, @11:08PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 22 2016, @11:08PM (#378836) Journal

        The next step would be to disallow unions to financially support any candidate, similar to the Democrats' push against corporate money in politics.

        My view is that labor unions are just a different form of corporation with very similar features and powers. I would treat them equally to corporations.

        I would go so far as to say unions should never be allowed in government, since it gives those workers additional undemocratic representation in our political processes.

        I quite agree and there are analogous corporations, for example, Fannie May and Freddie Mac a couple of particularly notorious examples.

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by boxfetish on Friday July 22 2016, @11:57PM

        by boxfetish (4831) on Friday July 22 2016, @11:57PM (#378846)

        Yep, unions should have representation on company boards just like Germany. I would even go as far as to say unions should be required by law. Unions should have continuous oversight to prevent corruption and should be prosecuted when found to be engaging in illegal or unethical practices. They should simply be the cost of doing business, just like minimum wage or workplace safety laws.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @12:37AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @12:37AM (#378860)

        a new democratic type of union

        If every worker is an owner of the company (and no non-workers can own a part of the company), you can skip over that step.
        The paradigm is called a Worker-Owned Cooperative.
        Professor Wolff likes to call it a Worker Self-Directed Enterprise.
        The one that get mentioned most often (since 1956) is Mondragon in Spain.
        There are currently over 100,000 worker-owners there.

        In Italy, their smart legislators worked up a plan to get this going back in 1985. [google.com]
        The last count I saw said there were over 8,100 worker-owned co-ops in just 1 region of northern Italy.

        public companies' stock purchase plans

        There's a thing called an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
        Unions are still [google.com] a part of that paradigm.

        You suggest turning that on its head.
        Interesting idea.
        I still say that 100 percent worker-owners makes it unnecessary.

        In a bunch of places in the USA, the majority of a company's ownership is by its workers (not the idle rich).
        2 that spring to mind are a SoCal-based paint producer/retailer and a Florida-based grocery chain which leads to others. [google.com]

        Germany

        Yup. They do it far better than megacorps in USA.

        disallow unions to financially support any candidate

        ...right after rich people and corporations have the same restriction.
        (We need a constitutional amendment that makes all political campaigns publicly-funded--and cancels "Citizens United".)

        require all union officers work their original jobs at least 50% of the time

        At first glance, I like this idea.

        they should only use 20% of their time on union duties

        That sounds like a "distributed" notion.
        Again, on the surface, it sounds good.

        Term limits

        Even better: Don't even have set terms.
        Have "No confidence" votes that dismiss badly performing reps.

        After 7 weeks, the union execs for Verizon workers issued a Back to Work order but didn't have a contract to show the workers .
        That totally sucked, as did a number of other things that that "leadership" did during the strike. [google.com]

        Having bad people in power with no way to swiftly get rid of them just bites.
        "Union" doesn't make that different from anything else.

        have union members vote on policies

        See "worker-owners", above.
        (It's inherent to the paradigm--which is called "Socialism" AKA "Democracy Everywhere".)

        "software IT" people could not [...] [pick up] a screwdriver

        In most union shops, the rules are not that rigidly enforced.
        ...unless owners/managers get tight-assed and a point has to be made.

        union membership should not be mandatory

        This is analogous to those instances where the Libertarians typically say "You are free to get a job somewhere else" (for a lower wage).
        ...except that the union gives you a fighting chance when negotiating with the megacorporation.

        By law, the non-dues-payers must receive all benefits that the union members receive as a result of union negotiations.
        You are supporting "free riders".
        They are no better than leeches

        ...and the politicians who support so-called "Right to Work" (for Less) laws are also slime.

        unions should never be allowed in government

        The Wrong-Wing concept of rugged individualism is bad fiction.
        Things that are better done collectively/communally are too numerous to list.

        -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:34AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @04:34AM (#378919)

          If every worker is an owner of the company (and no non-workers can own a part of the company), you can skip over that step.
          The paradigm is called a Worker-Owned Cooperative.
          Professor Wolff likes to call it a Worker Self-Directed Enterprise.
          The one that get mentioned most often (since 1956) is Mondragon in Spain.
          There are currently over 100,000 worker-owners there.
          In Italy, their smart legislators worked up a plan to get this going back in 1985.
          The last count I saw said there were over 8,100 worker-owned co-ops in just 1 region of northern Italy.

          Right. And what do they do for capital? Sell stoc... oh no, can't do that. Get investm... uh, no. Take out loan... no wait, that would involve evil blood-sucking capitalist paper tiger monsters, right? So how do they get their vast factories? Accumulated profit? No, that's capitalist, can't have that. So what is it?

          And where's the one you've started? They're quite legal in the USA. You are in the US, aren't you?

          disallow unions to financially support any candidate
          ...right after rich people and corporations have the same restriction.

          Why? They're qualitatively different. Public companies are responsible to their stockholders, and can be called to account for ill-advised or undesired expenditures. Rich people can spend their own money on their own opinions. Unions spend other people's money on their leadership's agenda. What do you not see that makes this look like the same thing to you?

          (We need a constitutional amendment that makes all political campaigns publicly-funded--and cancels "Citizens United".)
          (It's inherent to the paradigm--which is called "Socialism" AKA "Democracy Everywhere".)

          That's not actually a paradigm. It's just an economic system. And while socialism MIGHT be known to you as democracy everywhere, to me it's known as folly. Evidently, your mileage varies. And frankly, democracy everywhere seems quite iffy. It's not at all clear that democracy is the right fit for every situation. And a lot of people are pretty unhappy with some of its outcomes (Brexit, anyone?) even though it's generally well-regarded on the surface. Also, what about times when democracy is just asking the public's opinion about something the average member of the public is manifestly ill-equipped to judge? Reality isn't a popularity contest. Hell, in my job it's crystal clear that a lot of people in the company are utterly clueless about the foundations of the technology that makes it possible. Sounds like a wonderful recipe for lousy decisions.

          In most union shops, the rules are not that rigidly enforced.
          ...unless owners/managers get tight-assed and a point has to be made.

          Oh, right. So the system is good when it's not followed. Got that. Taking notes here.

          This is analogous to those instances where the Libertarians typically say "You are free to get a job somewhere else" (for a lower wage).
          ...except that the union gives you a fighting chance when negotiating with the megacorporation.

          No, the union gives the union a fighting chance, and the stiffs on the picket lines get to suck down whatever the union reps shake on with the megacorporation. I've been in union shops my friend, I know how it works and I've seen the pointy end coming down in my direction.

          By law, the non-dues-payers must receive all benefits that the union members receive as a result of union negotiations.
          You are supporting "free riders".
          They are no better than leeches

          Maybe they just don't agree with the union? Oh, wait, that's unthinkable. If they disagree it's because they're wrong, and evil, and must be forced to join the union for re-education, and if their union dues are spent on political goals they don't like, that's just equal time, eh comrade?

          unions should never be allowed in government
          The Wrong-Wing concept of rugged individualism is bad fiction.
          Things that are better done collectively/communally are too numerous to list.

          Right, vast list. Got it. Can you list the defining criteria for limited fields of endeavour in which rugged individualists may extend their skills for filthy lucre? Since no true socialist will ever accumulate capital (whether in human, physical or pecuniary form) how are they supposed to do this? Your views intrigue me and I wish to hear all the details. Get specific. Get long. Get detailed.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @07:27AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @07:27AM (#378952)

            what do they do for capital?

            You weren't interested enough to click the link and find out?
            ...and the point on the top of your head is likely more interesting than your other "points" were.
            You are boring. Bye-bye.

            -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @09:48PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @09:48PM (#379173)

              It comes down, in the big picture, to grants and loans. Nothing about this is self-sustaining or self-founding. Your proposal depends on someone else first generating the capital. So much for the socialist way.

              And just because you find the points that poke holes in your ideology boring doesn't mean they aren't valid. If people wanted to implement your ideas (because they're SO COOL, right?) then those questions deserve answers: what, why and how?

              Is democracy the right way to run a business? Based on what? What makes it right?

              Why should unions exercise monopoly (or monopsony) power in employment, with respect to management or employees?

              Are unions really functionally identical to the independently wealthy or the great corporations, given their intended roles as intermediaries for the purposes of negotiation? What about the discrepancies where they act as agents to the unwilling?

              Put up or shut up.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @12:14AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @12:14AM (#379231)

                The seed money is something that was ALREADY EARNED by the workers and is OWED to them from the failed Capitalist system.
                No loans are needed.

                I'd explain it to you but your head is so full of nonsense that I'd have to dredge out all that stupidity before starting to educate you.
                I don't have that kind of time.

                -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @02:27AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 24 2016, @02:27AM (#379264)

                  Right. Got it. Evil capitalist theft-based system. Accumulation of capital is evil. Except when virtuous workers' cooperatives do it - then it's OK, but riddle me this, o sage: who gets to determine which capital, and how much of that, flows in which directions?

                  Or, to put it another way, what dispute resolution mechanism do you recommend for the adjudication of rival claims to given capital resources?

                  To give you a more concrete example, let's say that the Workers' Democratic Ironmongery wants to use the same water as the Soviet Peasantry's Farming Collective? Who decides? On what grounds?

                  Or, to bring it around to accumulated capital cases, both groups want to use the hydropower output from a wicked capitalist-constructed dam. Who gets how much? Adjudicated by whom? And why? What system of reasoning resolves these conflicts?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @01:42AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @01:42AM (#378878)

        I would go so far as to say unions should never be allowed in government

        What about government employee unions?