Philadelphia inquirer: Legislation would protect workers' right to unionize

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/pa/20070507_Legislation_would_protect_workers_right_to_unionize.html

By Charles Wowkanech

On Thursday, the National Labor Relations Board will conduct an election at the Trump Marina Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City that will determine whether the casino dealers there will be represented by the United Auto Workers.

What this election will not do is gauge these dealers' interest in forming a union.

Though those two statements may sound contradictory, they are not only accurate, but also a microcosm of the hurdles today's workers must clear in order to exercise their constitutionally protected right to organize.

Under our current system, workers must sign union-authorization cards declaring their intention to be represented by a union. These cards are then presented to the NLRB and a petition is filed requesting an election. Upon the acceptance of the petition, an election is scheduled, usually a month or two down the road.

It is in these intervening weeks between the time that the petition is accepted and the election is held that employers regularly gin up their antiunion strategies and work methodically to prevent workers from exercising their voice. With alarming regularity, workers involved in organizing campaigns are intimidated, threatened, or coerced into relinquishing their support for the union.

Even after a successful election, when workers have made their desire for representation clear a second time, employers often still refuse to recognize workers' rights and fail to bargain in good faith to reach a fair first contract. One-third of the time no contract is reached, and in countless other instances the relationship between employer and employees is irreparably damaged during a drawn-out campaign.


FULL story at link.

The onus should be on the Union to protect the workers from harassment by the company!

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