Law Denies Protection to Millions of Workers |
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25% of the Workforce Ignored by U.S. Labor LawEven though the National Labor Relations Act says employees have the right to form a union and bargain collectively…
More Workers are Losing Their Rights to Organize and BargainIn the past year, the Bush-appointed majority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—the federal agency charged with protecting workers—has issued decisions stripping workers of their federally-protected rights.
Farmworkers Struggle for Basic Human RightsJavier Velazquez is a farmworker who came to the United States when he was 20. He immediately started working as a tree planter to help support his younger brothers and sisters in Mexico. Javier thought he had found a better line of work when he switched jobs to become a picker at the Pictsweet Mushroom Farms plant in Salem, OR. Unfortunately, he soon found working conditions at the plant to be less than adequate. The pickers worked in damp, dark rooms where they climbed the walls to pick mushrooms. The wet, old plywood supporting the workers on their climb would frequently break. It was not uncommon for workers to fall—resulting in broken knees, ankles, or in Javier’s case, an injured back. Yet, when Javier and his coworkers approached management to improve the hazardous conditions, he felt that their concerns were ignored. After two years of such treatment, Javier began organizing with his coworkers in 1998. “We were sick and tired of it. We worked like slaves and we were scared to talk. We had to do something.” Though 80 percent of the workers signed cards indicating they wanted a union, the company refused to negotiate with them. The workers participated in a work stoppage in 2001, and soon after, management fired Javier. If Javier and his coworkers were afforded legal protection by American labor law, they may have been able to form a union. At the Pictsweet Mushroom Farms plant in California, where farmworkers have the right to organize under state law, workers were able to form a union and secured a contract providing better wages and family medical coverage. Javier summarized this injustice, “[The employer] can fire anyone they want, they can take money from paychecks, they can force us to work hard—13 hours without overtime…Other jobs have unions so they don’t suffer like farmworkers. Farmworkers don’t have anything. The law doesn’t protect them.” Did You Know?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:
Endnotes |
American Rights at Work is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the freedom of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively with employers.
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