Speaking of the Right to Keep Employees Isolated and Uninformed ...

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Speaking of the Right to Keep Employees Isolated and Uninformed ...

Thursday, 11 July 2013 10:46
By Ann C Hodges and Ellen Dannin, Truthout | News Analysis


Occasionally comments on the articles in this series question why we discuss cases decided decades ago. Our purpose is to raise awareness of the ways in which the National Labor Relations Act has been "judicially amended" to hurt workers' rights.

As a result of judicial amendments, many today see the law as powerless. But the NLRA would not be powerless if it were interpreted as written and as Congress intended. The law still has the power to transform labor relations and give employees fair treatment, if only we will defend that power.

These judicial "interpretations", many made long ago when unions were stronger and union membership was much higher, contributed to the decline of unionization and persist in their devastating effects in today's economic climate. The erosion of NLRA rights through past and current "interpretations" continues to deprive workers of their rights and weaken unions. Today's article discusses two recent decisions that erode employee rights.

Last week, we discussed the 1991 decision in Lechmere, which narrowed the NLRA's definition of employee to bar employees who did not work for Lechmere from coming onto Lechmere's shopping center property to talk to Lechmere's employees about the benefits of unionizing. .......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/17377-speaking-of-the-right-to-keep-employees-isolated-and-uninformed

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