From: Subject: D039 - Labor: Fix Our Broken Labor Laws Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:13:14 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://gc2009.org/ViewLegislation/view_leg_detail.aspx?id=1006&type=Current X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 =EF=BB=BF D039 - Labor: Fix Our Broken Labor Laws
CURRENT VARIANT=20
Resolution: D039
Title: Fix Our Broken Labor Laws
Topic: Labor
Committee: 09 - National and International Concerns
House of Initial Action: Deputies
Proposer: The Rev. William E. Exner

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th = General=20 Convention of the Episcopal Church urge the Congress of the United = States to=20 pass, and the President to sign it into law, labor law = reform=20 legislation designed to better protect employees seeking to engage in = collective=20 bargaining, to simplify and streamline the procedures by which employees = may=20 choose to organize, and to assist employers and employees in reaching = agreement.=20 Said legislation should contain the following elements:

1. Provide workers the choice of seeking union recognition either = through an=20 election, or through a majority sign-up on cards which are then verified = by the=20 National Labor Relations Board.

2. Adopt more effective remedies for violations of employees' rights, = comparable to the remedies for discrimination provided by existing civil = rights=20 laws.

3. Where the employers and unions are unable to reach agreement on = their=20 first collective bargaining agreement within a reasonable period of = time,=20 resolve the dispute by submitting it to mediation and if mediation is = unsuccessful, then to neutral, binding arbitration; = and be=20 it further

Resolved, That church members and the Office of Government = Relations=20 communicate the position of the Episcopal Church on this issue to the = President=20 and Members of Congress, and advocate passage of federal legislation = consistent=20 with this Resolution.


EXPLANATION

The Episcopal Church supports the = right of=20 workers to organize unions and to bargain collectively for better wages, = hours=20 and working conditions. The Executive Council in 1991 expressed alarm at = reprisals taken against workers who seek to organize union, issuing the=20 following statement:

"The Executive Council deplores reprisals = taken=20 against workers who exercise their rights to initiate collective = bargaining as=20 protected by federal and state statutes; calls upon corporate and = business=20 leaders to respect the letter and the spirit of the National Labor = Relations=20 Act; supports all working Americans, whether organized into unions or = not, in=20 the struggle to restore fairness in the workplace; and calls upon our=20 congregation and local communities to reach out to working people who = have been=20 denied their jobs, their respect and their livelihoods, joining with = them in=20 their struggle for justice and fair compensation."

Some 60 = million U.S.=20 workers say they would join a union if they could, based on research = conducted=20 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in December 2006. But when workers = try to=20 gain a voice on the job by forming a union, employers routinely respond = with=20 intimidation, harassment and retaliation. According to a survey of = National=20 Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election campaigns in 1998 and 1999 by = Cornell=20 University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner, private-sector employers = illegally fire=20 employees for union activity in at least 25 percent of all efforts to = join a=20 union.
Employees not fired fear losing their jobs if they support = union=20 representation. According to the Bronfenbrenner survey, management = forces=20 employees to attend group anti-union presentations in 92 percent of all = union=20 campaigns. Another study revealed that 79 percent of workers believe = that=20 workers are "very" or "somewhat" likely to be fired for trying to form a = union.=20

If employers do break the law, current penalties are so = ineffective that=20 companies often treat them as a cost of doing business. For example, the = penalty=20 for threatening the jobs of union organizers is to post a notice = promising not=20 to do it again. And if an employer illegally fires, demotes, or suspends = a=20 worker for trying to unionize - the penalty is to reinstate her to her = previous=20 post and pay back wages, minus any she earned in the interim. And it = often takes=20 years of legal wrangling to resolve these cases, which means workers = often move=20 on to new jobs because they can't afford to wait for reinstatement. If = the=20 penalties were similar to those of federal civil rights laws, workers = could be=20 awarded cash damages and violators could be fined, which would = strengthen=20 enforcement efforts.

The Employee Free Choice Act would reform = the=20 nation's basic labor laws by requiring employers to recognize a union = after a=20 majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. It also = would=20 provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and = establish=20 stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to = form unions=20 or negotiate first contracts.


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