Statement by Edward J. McElroy, President, American Federation of Teachers,
on the RESPECT Act (H.B. 1644 / S. 969)

The recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) guidance for determining who is a supervisor would classify more than 800,000 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses as supervisors under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA excludes those with genuine managerial or supervisory authority from union protection and the right to collective bargaining. NLRB members Wilma Liebman and Dennis Walsh dissented from the majority ruling, saying the decision “threatens to create a new class of workers under federal labor law—workers who have neither the genuine prerogatives of management, nor the statutory rights of ordinary employees.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act (H.B. 1644 / S. 969) recognizes workers’ right to organize. The bill would reverse the ill-advised National Labor Relations Board decisions, known collectively as Kentucky River, which stripped thousands of nurses of their right to belong to a union by classifying them as supervisors. It would ultimately help avoid bedlam in our workplaces and unsafe conditions for patients. The AFT is happy to see Congress moving so quickly to correct this mistake.

The ramifications of the Kentucky River ruling are serious; the decision could negatively affect the quality of patient care. It is unionized healthcare workers who bring attention and seek solutions to serious problems affecting patient care. They can positively press for change for the sake of their patients because they are under the protection of a union. Without union protection, nurses—fearing reprisal from their employer—would be less likely to speak out on behalf of their patients about unsafe conditions such as inadequate staffing, potentially dangerous mandatory overtime and inadequate equipment.

We applaud Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), and Reps. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) for introducing the RESPECT Act.

# # # #