On January 30, 2009, just nine days after his inauguration, President Barrack Obama issued Executive Order 13496 which requires companies with federal contracts to inform employees of their right to organize and join unions. It also revoked Executive Order 13201 made by George W. Bush, which required federal contractors to inform unionized workers of their right to object to paying full union dues.
On February 17, 2001, four weeks after taking office as President, George W. Bush issued four anti-union executive orders. One of those orders, Executive Order number 13201, required government contractors to post a notice which highlighted only one provision of the National Labor Relations Act—that provision known as “Beck,” which dealt with how workers covered by a union contract may object to paying full union dues by becoming a nonmember. As a nonmember, those workers could only be required to pay that portion of union dues related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance handling. The Bush Administration order affected a very small number of workers, and there was no requirement to inform the much larger number of unorganized workers of their rights to organize and join unions.
Obama’s Executive Order only applied to employers with federal contracts. However, in December 2010, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposed extending this requirement to post a notice of workers right to all employers. The notice would include information on how to contract the National Labor Relations Act to allow employees to learn more about their rights and how to enforce these rights. The notice would be posted or emailed to employees. Where a significant number of employees are not proficient in English, the employer must provide the notice in the language the employees speak.
In making this rule, the NLRB reasoned that most workers do not exercise their rights because they do not know they have these rights. The NLRB pointed to an article by Peter D. DeChiara:
“American workers are largely ignorant of their rights under the NLRA, and this ignorance stands as an obstacle to the effective exercise of such rights. For example, during union organizing campaigns, employees’ ignorance of the law hinders their ability to assess employer anti-union propaganda, thus diluting their right to organize. In the non-union setting, employees’ ignorance leads to the underutilization of legitimate workplace protests, of the voicing of group grievances, and of requests for outside help from government agencies or other third parties. In sum, lack of notice of their rights disempowers employees.” [Source: Peter D. DeChiara, “The Right to Know: An Argument for Informing Employees of Their Rights under the National Labor Relations Act,” 32 Harv. J. on Legis. 431, 433- 434 (1995).]
The NLRB suggested four reasons why workers lack knowledge of their rights: 1) Over 90 percent of private sector employees are not represented by unions, and thus lack an important source of information about labor rights; 2) Immigrants, who comprise an increasing proportion of the nation’s work force, are unlikely to be familiar with their workplace rights; 3) high school students about to enter the labor force are not taught labor law and are uninformed about their rights; and 4) no one is required to inform them of those rights.
Many federal and state laws require employers to post notices informing workers of their rights. There are posters about the minimum wage, workers compensation, illegal discrimination, safety and health, and other laws. Yet there are no requirements to post information about the right to organize unions under the National Labor Relations Act
Content of notice
The notice contains: 1) detailed description of employee rights based on court descriptions implementing those rights; 2) examples of conduct that violates the law; 3) a clear statement that unlawful conduct will not be permitted; and 4) information about how to contact the NLRB and that the NLRB will prosecute violators of the law.
Following is the language contained in the NLRB notice about enforcing the law:
“Illegal conduct will not be permitted. If you believe your rights or the rights of others have been violated, you should contact the NLRB promptly to protect your rights, generally within six months of the unlawful activity. You may inquire about possible violations without your employer or anyone else being informed of the inquiry. Charges may be filed by any person and need not be filed by the employee directly affected by the violation. The NLRB may order an employer to rehire a worker fired in violation of the law and to pay lost wages and benefits, and may order an employer or union to cease violating the law. Employees should seek assistance from the nearest regional NLRB office, which can be found on the Agency’s website: www.nlrb.gov. You can also contact the NLRB by calling toll-free: 1-866-667-6572.”
Jack Hall: His life and times
When Jack Hall won election as one of two vice presidents of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) in mid1969, he left Hawaii after 25 years of regional directorship of the Hawaii ILWU Locals, beginning with his first appointment in 1944.
Hall left a legacy that changed Hawaii from a semi-feudal agricultural economy to a sometimes vibrant, sometimes non-vibrant economy of tourism and diversified agriculture. Faced with the challenges of a changing economy and politics brought by statehood, Hawaii was now a multi-cultural ethnic society which had evolved from the early days of the Masters & Servants Act in the mid-19th century.
Hall’s legacy was galvanized and built from his experiences in organizing two plantations (one sugar, one pineapple) on Kauai; the formation of the Kauai Progressive League, involving working people in political activities; his association with the Voice of Labor, a newspaper directed to the interests of working people; knowledge of labor laws gained in his stint in the Territory’s Labor Department; recognition of the deprivations of workers by longshoremen and independent organizers under the burden of martial law imposed on Hawaii during World War II; the recognition that Hawaii’s residents needed to repeal or to enact legislation that affected their lives; the imperative of workers to participate in cultural activities, such as supporting the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra; the protection of the environment, through supporting the elimination of billboards; the education of children and members alike through government - and union -sponsored programs; and his identification with the international labor movement.
Hall’s legacy was threefold:
1) The right of workers to belong freely to unions of their own choosing;
2) The right of workers to engage in political action, including running for elected office and appointment to boards and commissions, as well as the democratic right to register and vote and to participate in activities that affected their economic, political and social lives;
3) The right of workers to control their lives and shape the conditions under which they worked and lived.
Jack Hall left this legacy because he was brilliant and analytical, and because he read everything with this driving force in his analysis: How can working people take advantage of their strength as members of a group and not as individuals to insure access to equality and justice? As a University of Hawaii sociologist put it, “Hall had the capacity to become a university professor because he had the ability to analyze and appraise facts that affected the direction in which society was moving.”
Jack Hall played a part in the elimination of the death penalty, aided in the restoring of abortion rights to women, instituted the concept of group practice with capitation in health care and prepaid dental care through legislation, provided the impetus for the union to build housing for displaced workers and the union’s growing retired community, and worked with the legislature for laws which made Hawaii one of the most progressive states in the Union.
Unfortunately, Hall’s lingering illness and subsequent death in January 1971 prevented him from working on the current Hawaiian situation, including the demise of sugar and pineapple, the decreasing numbers in the ILWU, and the question of how the union could continue the role it once played despite the changes in the political economy.
Perhaps a re-reading of A Spark Is Struck! Jack Hall & The ILWU in Hawaii, originally published in 1979, can provide some of the answers as to where the labor movement will go in the future and how union ideology, policies and structure can direct labor in a changing worldwide economy. This book is a powerful reminder that the legacy of Jack Hall continues to guide today’s labor movement.