It has been a constant assault on the middle class and the American worker since Scott Walker manipulated the political process in Wisconsin, and passed his bill taking away workers bargaining rights. Now, the Republican House of Representatives are joining in on the attacks.
House Republicans have introduced a bill that would give companies and corporations even more power to up and relocate their business – taking jobs to another territory, state or country – if the workers voice their concerns about unfair treatment.
The bill – according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – was introduced to protect Boeing’s decision to relocate to South Carolina, after their employees went on strike. After NLRB filed a complaint against Boeing, House Republicans introduced their bill.
The NLRB charges that Boeing moved production away from its Washington State facility in retaliation for the workers exercising their right to strike, and that’s against the law.
The Republican bill would take away the NLRB’s authority to remedy unlawful conduct like Boeing is alleged to have engaged in. H.R. 2587 would apply to cases currently being considered, including the legal action against Boeing. It would allow corporations to freely retaliate against workers by transferring, subcontracting or off-shoring jobs. For example, says [AFL-CIO President Richard] Trumka:
“If a group of workers walk out of a plant because of unsafe working conditions, the company could decide to move the work and the jobs rather than fix the problem, and the NLRB would be powerless to protect the workers and their jobs.
If a group of women or African Americans joined together to protest race or sex discrimination by their employer, the company could simply transfer the work somewhere else, and the NLRB would be powerless to protect the workers.
Bertucci says, “I’m not willing to sacrifice a right that goes back generations so that Boeing has an advantage.”
I’d like to see my daughter have the same opportunity as I did….If this bill passes, every American’s right to be in a union will be threatened.
It’s the same old story – protecting big business at the expense of middle class America. Except this time the decisions to choose Corporations over regular working Americans, are not coming from a Republican governor in some state, these decisions are coming from the United States Congress.
