U.S. Senate Rejects Attack on Workers? Rights, Upholds NLRB Rule Changes

Washington, D.C. -- Workers at nearly every company know firsthand how U.S. corporations use delaying tactics to keep workers from making a fair choice about union representation. Today, the U.S. Senate upheld the very modest changes made by the National Labor Relations Board last year to ensure workers have fair and timely elections.

“The preamble to the National Labor Relations Act actually says its purpose is ‘to promote collective bargaining.’ The U.S. has fallen far from that standard, and workers’ rights are under attack. The U.S. Senate today took a small step in protecting workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively by upholding modest rule changes made by the NLRB,” CWA said.

“Our middle class standard of living has fallen as collective bargaining rights have declined. The United States is now near the bottom among industrialized democracies in bargaining and organizing coverage. U.S. income inequality is the worst in 100 years. The gap between wages and productivity in the U.S. is widening as workers are unable to bargain to improve their conditions.

Bargaining rights are critical to economic recovery. These NLRB rule changes are a small step toward ensuring that workers can freely vote on union representation.

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Contact: Candice Johnson or Chuck Porcari, CWA Communications 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org or cporcari@cwa-union.org