SUPERVISORS IN NAME ONLY
The Oakwood Decision and Labor Rights
Lewis Maltby
Linda Bennett never realized she was a manager. As a nurse in Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor, Michigan, she had no ability to hire, fire, promote, or discipline other nurses. But because she was a “charge nurse”, who divided up the work that needed to be done on her shift, the National Labor Relations Board recently held that she was a “supervisor” and did not have the right to join the nurses’ union at her facility. She cannot negotiate collectively with other nurses over her pay and benefits, but must accept whatever management offers or quit. She won’t be protected from arbitrary termination; management can fire her at any time on a whim.
Bennett isn’t alone. Millions of other rank and file workers lost the right to join unions on October 3 when the National Labor Relations Board issued three decisions that classified them as supervisors. These decisions hold that any employee who is responsible for the work of another employee is a supervisor, and not protected by the National Relations Act, unless the work is completely routine. By this definition, every teacher with an aide, carpenter or welder with an apprentice, and executive secretary with an assistant in America is a supervisor. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that up to eight million Americans will lose the right to join a union under these decisions.
The Oakwood decision comes on the heels of other Board rulings that are divorced from reality. In a case involving Brown University, the Board held that graduate students who are paid for teaching college courses are not employees of the university. In other cases, it held that disabled workers who receive counseling as part of their compensation and models at art schools are not employees.
This isn’t fair and is not what Congress intended when it passed the National Labor Relations Act. As the Supreme Count stated in the Bell Aerospace case, Congress intended to distinguish between “real supervisors who have genuine management prerogatives” who are considered part of management and “minor supervisors” who are still workers themselves and are to be covered by the Act. The current National Relations Board, led by a majority of Bush Administration appointees, has forgotten this important mandate.
These rulings couldn’t have come at a worse time. Americans have watched their take home pay (adjusted for inflation) shrink for over a decade, despite soaring productivity and record corporate profits. Employers are also cutting back on medical benefits and eliminating pension plans. Employees with unions, while not immune to these problems, do far better. The average union member makes 20% more than employees with comparable jobs that don’t belong to a union. Union members are also far more likely to have employer-paid medical care and retirement plans. Taking away the right to organize denies workers their best opportunity to maintain a decent standard of living.
The Board needs to rethink its rulings in light of the Act’s fundamental objectives. If it can’t, or won’t, Congress needs to amend the National Labor Relations Act to correct these mistakes. At a time when real wages are declining and job security is becoming a thing of the past, the last thing the country needs are misguided rulings that deny employees the right to join a union.