News & Information

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 9/26/07

House panel passes bill to restore workers' right to organize

The House Education and Labor Committee passed a bill designed to guarantee the right of skilled and professional workers to organize and bargain collectively. The legislation would reverse a series of decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that could allow employers to reclassify workers as supervisors, which would deprive them of the right to organize. The committee approved the bill -- the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction and Tradesworkers (RESPECT) Act (H.R. 1644) -- by a 26-20 party-line vote on September 19, 2007.

"The passage of the RESPECT Act will overturn the misguided decision of the NLRB in the Kentucky River trilogy and restore the law back to Congress' original intent," said Rob Andrews, D-N.J., sponsor of the bill. "The affirmative vote on HR 1644 of all of my Democratic colleagues on the committee today will protect the right to organize and collectively bargain for millions of American workers."

Last October, the NLRB issued three decisions that expanded the definition of supervisor. The decisions, known as the Kentucky River decisions, stated that workers who regularly direct co-workers on a workplace task just 10 percent of the workday could be considered supervisors, even when they had no authority to reward or discipline the employees. The Economic Policy Institute concluded that up to 8 million workers could be immediately reclassified as supervisors and lose their right to organize.

The bill approved by the House committee would amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to revise the definition of "supervisor." Supervisors would be required to have authority over employees for the majority of the workday. The bill would make it clear that nurses, construction workers and others who assign tasks to less experienced workers but lack supervisory authority would not be considered supervisors.

Organized labor welcomed the committee's action. "The RESPECT Act would make modest corrections to the NLRA to restore the law to its original intent and ensure that only workers who have genuine supervisory duties during a majority of their work time may be viewed as supervisors," commented Greg Tarpinian, Change to Win's executive director.

Source: John Scorza, CCH Washington Bureau

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

Visit our News Library to read more news stories.