Monday, November 16, 2015

NLRB bill is exactly what workers don't need

Workers in recent years have been taking it on the chin from corporations. Quality jobs have vanished and wages seem to be stuck in neutral. And some states have even decided to roll back union rights.
But not all lawmakers evidently believe that's enough. Even as income inequality grows while corporate profits soar, elected officials like Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) seem to believe corporations deserve less oversight and more breaks.

That's the only excuse one could have for introducing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Reform Act, which would lessen the agency's ability to intervene and fix workplace disputes.

As The Hill wrote today:
Under the new legislation, the NLRB would be turned into a six-member bipartisan agency that could make it more difficult to act. Furthermore, the agency’s top lawyer would have less authority.
The NLRB could also face funding cuts.
Rep. Wilson seems to bemoan the existence of unions. It makes one wonder if he knows that members of the Teamsters and other unions make on average more than $200 a week more than non-union workers? Or that during the 1950s when America's middle class was at its zenith that union membership was at its highest?

Probably not. But this union does. That's why enhancing workers' rights is part of the Teamsters' "Let's Get America Working" platform. And it's why Congress must say no to legislation like this that will only hurt everyday Americans even more.