Labor

Every year, I serve thousands of tourists and residents of the Washington, D.C., area who are visiting the Air and Space Museum, one of the most popular attractions maintained by the federal government.
 
But this week, I went on strike, and I’d like to tell you why.

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It’s a stunning admission: the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny in the run-up to the 2012 election. But equally stunning is who the IRS wasn’t targeting: a federally funded labor union front group that was boasting publicly of its lobbying activities while failing to report them to the IRS’s bookkeepers.

In a U.S. economy where tens of millions are struggling, guest workers on H-2B visas are trapped at the bottom. These so-called “low skilled” temporary workers occupy fields from hospitality to construction to landscaping to food processing — alongside 24 million U.S. workers in the same sectors. And the job quality of those 24 million depends on whether guest workers can blow the whistle on abuse.

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On April 12, the Office of Special Counsel announced it was investigating allegations that B. Todd Jones, nominee to lead the DOJ’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), had retaliated against whistle-blowers at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, where he concurrently served as U.S. Attorney.  But the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, the DOJ, and concerns about whistle-blower protection are not just appetizers for corruption in Washington – they make up a main course that is about to become the meal ticket for a Cabinet appointee.

Another May Day has come and gone. Yet American workers have precious little to celebrate. And those working for the nation’s largest private-sector employer, Wal-Mart, have even less to celebrate than most.

Last year, for the first time in the firm’s 50-year history, Wal-Mart employees participated in several strikes and job actions leading up to a national day of protest on Black Friday. The organization representing Wal-Mart employees, OUR Wal-Mart, was protesting against poor pay and benefits, and management retaliation against workers who speak out. This wasn’t the first time that Wal-Mart employees have protested against substandard working conditions, and in the past, Wal-Mart has simply assumed that the protests will eventually die out, especially given employees’ understandable fear of management retribution.

On May 1, thousands of people will take part in rallies and demonstrations nationwide to recognize that all workers – regardless of their immigration status – have rights and protections. That’s because May Day is also International Worker’s Day.

So there is no better time to reflect on the needs of immigrant workers, especially those from Asia and the Pacific Islands, who have a long history of immigrating to the United States in order to start a new life and provide for their families back home.

This week the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hear from Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, the President’s nominee to serve as secretary of Labor. Having been in his position, I know he’s probably busy preparing his opening remarks and doing his homework to learn as much as possible about the new job for which he’s about to undergo a very public interview.
 
In 2003 and 2004 I was fortunate to work with Tom on my Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Professions and found him to be an engaging, thoughtful individual dedicated to public service and able to work with all. 

On Wednesday, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) accused the Obama administration of creating “uncertainty” in labor-management relations by attempting to ensure the continued functioning of the National Labor Relations Board. In reality, GOP attacks on the Board are responsible for the current uncertainty.
 
Roe’s ludicrously mistitled “Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act,” which the House will vote on this week, is yet another example of the GOP’s contempt for American workers. The act would effectively prohibit the Board from functioning until it has at least three Senate-confirmed members or until the Supreme Court rules on the legitimacy of President Obama’s January 2012 recess appointments to the Board. Thus, Roe’s notion of “preventing uncertainty” would likely involve denying reinstatement and back pay to workers who are unlawfully sacked and denying a vote to workers who want to form a union.

The president must close the loophole left in the Fair Labor Standards Act for home care workers.

Eighty years ago Frances Perkins broke a glass ceiling in government when President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her Secretary of Labor, the first female cabinet member in U.S. history. But her legacy extends far beyond the appointment itself. In her twelve years at the helm of the Department of Labor, Perkins played a key role in helping Roosevelt enact the critical legislation that comprised the New Deal.

The House of Representatives will vote this week on Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act (H.R. 1120), a bill which stops the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from continuing to issue decisions in defiance of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holding that the board is without lawful authority to do so. The bill deserves bi-partisan support.
 
The bill serves three purposes: first, it eliminates the uncertainty that has arisen in the labor-management community that is being exacerbated by the three-member board continuing to issue decisions; second, it sends a message that Congress intends to protect the U.S. Senate’s role in the political appointment process; and third, it provides an example to other executive branch agencies who may think that the line has been crossed and that impertinent behavior toward a federal circuit court is now in vogue and can be copied.