The Wonk Room: Six Ways Congressional Republicans Are Joining The Assault On Labor

[Omaha Steve]

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2011/03/08/six-anti-labor/

A lot of attention has, deservedly, been focused upon the Republican governors — including Govs. Scott Walker (WI), John Kasich (OH), and Terry Branstad (IA) — who are trying to legislatively bust unions by removing the right of public sector workers to collectively bargain. But Republicans in Congress are by no means staying out of the union-busting game.

In addition to lending their support to Walker’s efforts, Republicans at the federal level are taking several steps to try to restrict unions and the workers they represent. Here are six examples:

– TAKING THE DEMOCRACY OUT OF UNION ELECTIONS: Last year, the National Mediation Board did away with an absurd rule that, for union elections under the Railway Labor Act, counted workers who didn’t vote as having voted against unionization. House Republicans are using legislation that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration to try and reverse the board’s ruling, once against counting absent workers as votes against the union.

– CUTTING THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD: The continuing resolution passed by House Republicans includes a $50 million reduction in the National Labor Relations Board’s budget. The NLRB is tasked with overseeing management-labor relations under the National Labor Relations Act, and with issuing rulings regarding labor-related law and regulations. If the House GOP’s spending cuts are enacted, all NLRB staff members will have to be furloughed for 55 days, causing a backlog of cases to pile up.

– KEEPING FEDEX DRIVERS DOWN: Last year’s FAA reauthorization bill (which never passed) corrected an inequity in labor law that allows FedEx to prevent its drivers from unionizing. FedEx CEO Fred Smith — who was George W. Bush’s fraternity brother and has said that “I don’t intend to recognize any unions at Federal Express” — intensely lobbied against the provision, and House Republicans dutifully stripped it from this year’s FAA bill.

FULL story at link.