Unions have a little-known tool at their disposal for organizing more workers, Professor Charles Morris, argues in the new book, The Blue Eagle at Work: Reclaiming Democratic Rights in the American Workplace.
Morris, an emeritus professor at Southern Methodist University School of Law and a labor law scholar, spoke at the Labor Speakers Club and the Organizers' Roundtable in St. Paul this summer.
Professor Morris contends that the right of minority member unions, unions without a majority membership, to bargain is legally protected. Labor unions can exercise the right to bargain collectively with employers even though they don?t represent a majority of the workers.
Exercising this right not original or new. It revives a practice that was once commonplace. Unions organized minority unions before they had the National Labor Relations Act (1935) and for about the first 10 years after the act passed. Employers who recognized unions displayed the Blue Eagle during the life of the National Industrial Revitalization Act (NIRA, 1933-1935).
Blue Eagle is the "Codes of Fair Competition" under Section 7 of NIRA 14, which guarantees employees have the "right to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing." It says nothing about a majority union. It is the Bill of Rights for organized labor. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (1935), repeats the same guarantee, word-for-word.
Seven unions on in various parts of the country organized minority unions this year. The Steelworkers in Pittsburgh, who organized Dick?s Sporting Goods Distribution center, are bringing the first test case. The union filed 12 unfair labor practices claims because Dick's would not recognize it.
Morris likened the status of minority unions to a song in Porgy and Bess, "It ain't necessarily so." He explained, "We?ve all grown up thinking you need to win and election and have a majority of a bargaining unit to represent employees." What happened was that unions did the easy thing and forgot about minority member unions. They filed for NLRB elections and won about 85 percent of the time at first.
Bringing back minority-member unions won't be easy. Resistance will come from employers and from the NLRB. Previous minority unions organized the most critical employees first. That still makes sense. Maybe the fledging minority unions will have limited power at first, but it will build. That's because minority-member unions are unions in every sense. They have safety committees, organize other committees, and include shop stewards who have a right to represent members in disciplinary hearings.
With a minority union, organizers don't need to go to an election until they have dues and know what will happen. Even if the union loses an election, the employer still must deal with a minority union. The minority union empowers members by having representatives service them.
People in both Minnesota audiences asked challenging questions. When asked how an increasingly right-leaning Supreme Court could possibly find in favor of recognition of minority-member unions, Morris concluded that the strict constructionists would help, including John Roberts, if appointed. That's because strict constructionists would certainly support that right because the law so clearly guarantees recognition.
Several members of SEIU at the Organizers' Roundtable passionately disagreed with using minority member unions as organizing tools. They believed that the approach was top-down and took away from workers power. "With a minority union, you don't have a contract. You get nothing without power and this approach gives no power to the majority. You won't get a contract," they said.
Morris responded, "Isn't this the same thing? The object is to get a majority. Members fight for themselves and act as a union. Even if you lose an election, the employer still has to deal with the union. This is all about worker power and that the union has the right to bargain."
Morris later stated, "It's not a panacea: We are talking about a preliminary stage with minority unions. It becomes a stepping-stone until you have a majority union."
Potentially, organizing minority member unions could be one tool to help revitalize the labor movement. The tactic is already in use. 'Time will tell its value.
Steve Katz, a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, was an intern for Workday Minnesota this summer.
Related articlesRead two reviews of the Morris book:
Time to re-examine an old method of organizing by Tom Beer
An answer to labor's prayers? by Professor John Budd.
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Unions have a little-known tool at their disposal for organizing more workers, Professor Charles Morris, argues in the new book, The Blue Eagle at Work: Reclaiming Democratic Rights in the American Workplace.
Morris, an emeritus professor at Southern Methodist University School of Law and a labor law scholar, spoke at the Labor Speakers Club and the Organizers’ Roundtable in St. Paul this summer.
Professor Morris contends that the right of minority member unions, unions without a majority membership, to bargain is legally protected. Labor unions can exercise the right to bargain collectively with employers even though they don?t represent a majority of the workers.
Exercising this right not original or new. It revives a practice that was once commonplace. Unions organized minority unions before they had the National Labor Relations Act (1935) and for about the first 10 years after the act passed. Employers who recognized unions displayed the Blue Eagle during the life of the National Industrial Revitalization Act (NIRA, 1933-1935).
Blue Eagle is the “Codes of Fair Competition” under Section 7 of NIRA 14, which guarantees employees have the “right to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.” It says nothing about a majority union. It is the Bill of Rights for organized labor. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (1935), repeats the same guarantee, word-for-word.
Seven unions on in various parts of the country organized minority unions this year. The Steelworkers in Pittsburgh, who organized Dick?s Sporting Goods Distribution center, are bringing the first test case. The union filed 12 unfair labor practices claims because Dick’s would not recognize it.
Morris likened the status of minority unions to a song in Porgy and Bess, “It ain’t necessarily so.” He explained, “We?ve all grown up thinking you need to win and election and have a majority of a bargaining unit to represent employees.” What happened was that unions did the easy thing and forgot about minority member unions. They filed for NLRB elections and won about 85 percent of the time at first.
Bringing back minority-member unions won’t be easy. Resistance will come from employers and from the NLRB. Previous minority unions organized the most critical employees first. That still makes sense. Maybe the fledging minority unions will have limited power at first, but it will build. That’s because minority-member unions are unions in every sense. They have safety committees, organize other committees, and include shop stewards who have a right to represent members in disciplinary hearings.
With a minority union, organizers don’t need to go to an election until they have dues and know what will happen. Even if the union loses an election, the employer still must deal with a minority union. The minority union empowers members by having representatives service them.
People in both Minnesota audiences asked challenging questions. When asked how an increasingly right-leaning Supreme Court could possibly find in favor of recognition of minority-member unions, Morris concluded that the strict constructionists would help, including John Roberts, if appointed. That’s because strict constructionists would certainly support that right because the law so clearly guarantees recognition.
Several members of SEIU at the Organizers’ Roundtable passionately disagreed with using minority member unions as organizing tools. They believed that the approach was top-down and took away from workers power. “With a minority union, you don’t have a contract. You get nothing without power and this approach gives no power to the majority. You won’t get a contract,” they said.
Morris responded, “Isn’t this the same thing? The object is to get a majority. Members fight for themselves and act as a union. Even if you lose an election, the employer still has to deal with the union. This is all about worker power and that the union has the right to bargain.”
Morris later stated, “It’s not a panacea: We are talking about a preliminary stage with minority unions. It becomes a stepping-stone until you have a majority union.”
Potentially, organizing minority member unions could be one tool to help revitalize the labor movement. The tactic is already in use. ‘Time will tell its value.
Steve Katz, a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, was an intern for Workday Minnesota this summer.
Related articles
Read two reviews of the Morris book:
Time to re-examine an old method of organizing by Tom Beer
An answer to labor’s prayers? by Professor John Budd.