Wellstone introduces bill to strengthen labor law for workers
By Michael Kuchta

WASHINGTON —— Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone is proposing sweeping reform of federal labor law that would change the ground rules for union election campaigns, increase penalties against companies that illegally fire workers for union activities, and help guarantee that newly unionized workers achieve a first contract quickly.

“This is long overdue,” Wellstone said, citing both the deliberate and unintentional erosion of workers rights since Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. “This changes the balance of power. I really think, in a lot of ways, this is perhaps the civil rights struggle of our time.”

A level playing field
Wellstone’’s “Right to Organize Act of 2001" (Senate Bill 1102) attempts to address some of the most serious problems workers face when they attempt to organize and bargain collectively to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions. The legislation, introduced June 27, would:

• Give union representatives the same access to workers during organizing campaigns that employers now exploit through such tactics as captive audience meetings during work hours.

• Make employers who illegally fire workers for union activities liable for three times back pay, plus possible punitive damages in civil lawsuits. Currently, employees discharged as a result of an unfair labor practice are eligible only for back pay, minus wages they’’ve made elsewhere after being fired.

• Require that an election be held within 14 days if more than 60 percent of employees sign union recognition cards. In the Twin Cities, elections typically take at least 45 days after workers file with the NLRB.

• Create an automatic mediation process for first contracts, including binding arbitration if a contract is not achieved within 90 days.

Wellstone also signed on as an original co-sponsor to a bill by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin that would prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacement workers during a strike.

Senate shift gives Wellstone chairmanship
In an interview, Wellstone said his legislation is a direct result of the Democrats regaining control of the U.S. Senate when Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords bolted the Republican Party. Wellstone now is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training, with jurisdiction over labor law and workplace safety, among other things.

“Now that I have jurisdiction,” Wellstone said, “I’’m in a position to hold hearings on the legislation. I’’m in a better position to get it to the floor. With the Democrats in control, I’m in a better position to get a vote on it.”

Wellstone said he wants to first push the Bush administration on its plans for new ergonomics rules, then would like to move his legislation forward by January.

“I think there will be fairly ferocious opposition,” he said. “But sometimes you have to start a fight to win a fight.”

Blocking corporate agenda
The fights will begin within his own party, he predicted. “The toughest part is that some Democrats won’’t want to be on the record on this. My plea to Democrats will be, ‘‘If you don’t stand for this, what do you stand for?’’“

The subcommittee chairmanship also means Wellstone should be able to stall a range of Republican proposals to weaken labor law, such as allowing “company unions” and substituting comp time for cash overtime.

“I’m never going to schedule any of those bills,” he said. “The only way for them to come to the Senate floor will be as amendments to other legislation. Those bills, if they come up as amendments, we’’ll oppose them.

“That corporate agenda is not going to go away. Just because we’’re in the majority doesn’t mean everything changes overnight. But I’’m ready to fight it out with them.”

This article was written for the July 5 issue of The Union Advocate newspaper. Used by permission. The Union Advocate is the official publication of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org