Today RILA urged members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to support an amendment offered by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would stop the application of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) micro-union decision.
The amendment will be considered Thursday when the Committee is scheduled to mark up the FY 2013 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill.
“Micro-unions will cause division within the retail workforce leading to conflicts and complexities that will negatively affect employees and customers,” said Bill Hughes, senior vice president for government affairs. “Given the process by which the NLRB reached the micro-union decision, those who stand to be negatively affected have little immediate recourse. The Graham Amendment will simply put the brakes on widespread application of the decision while legal appeals progress.”
Micro-unions were created as a result NLRB’s 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision. The decision redefines what the NLRB views as a proper bargaining unit allowing union organizers to gerrymander a workplace by cherry-picking small groups of employees within a larger workforce to form a micro-union.
The NLRB and its regional directors have already begun clearing the way for micro-unions including a unit made up of the women’s shoe department at a New York Bergdorf Goodman store as well as maintenance employees at a Nestle-Dryer Ice Cream plant, and behind-the-counter employees at a DTG car rental location.
“Micro-unions will undermine the variety and flexibility that retail employees seek and the cross-training and nimbleness that retailers rely upon to meet the expectations of customers,” added Hughes.
RILA sent members of the Senate Appropriations Committee a letter today urging them to support the Graham Amendment.
On Tuesday, RILA joined several other organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, in calling on the Senate Appropriations Committee to address the micro-union decision.
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