quote:
Instead of fulfilling its mission to protect workers and promote collective bargaining, in recent years the Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has systematically reduced the freedom of workers to join unions. The abuses have been so egregious that the AFL-CIO today took the unusual step of filing a complaint with the International Labor Organization (ILO) charging the Bush administration’s NLRB with denying workers’ rights in violation of international labor standards.
. . . .
In case after case, the Bush NLRB has denied workers’ rights while protecting employers. For example, in a partisan vote, the board ruled Sept. 29 that if employers voluntarily recognize a union based on union authorization cards (also known as majority sign-up), anti-union employees have 45 days to petition for a decertification election, and the employer must notify employees of this 45-day window.
Although recognition by majority sign-up requires more than 50 percent of workers to choose union representation, only 30 percent of the employees need to sign the petition for a decertification election.
Any ILO decision is unenforeable in the U.S. That the AFL-CIO had to take this step shows how under seige the union movement is in the U.S.