Tell Congress you want RESPECT

Nurses and healthcare workers nationwide are speaking up for their patients, their profession and their rights by supporting the RESPECT Act, a bill pending in Congress that would reverse last year’s union-busting Oakwood ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If you haven’t gotten involved in the legislative process before, now is the time to start, because all of us must make our voices heard for the RESPECT Act to become law.

Most of you are probably familiar with the NLRB’s Oakwood ruling, which is sometimes called Kentucky River. The board’s partisan 3-2 decision grossly distorted the definition of “supervisor,” interpreting it so broadly that employers can label workers as supervisors if they occasionally direct other employees or assign tasks.

The decision now threatens the union rights of millions of workers, including nurses and healthcare professionals, since supervisors are ineligible for union protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB’s broad interpretation of supervisor could potentially affect workers in every industry. In the case of healthcare, the ruling also is a dire threat to patient safety, undermining the ability of employees to speak out about understaffing, mandatory overtime and faulty equipment.

The RESPECT Act—which stands for the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers—offers a commonsense solution to this “supervisor scam.” Introduced in March 2007, the bill would amend the definition of supervisor in the NLRA, thereby restoring worker rights and the intent of the law. The bill already has more than 100 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and more than 20 in the Senate.  But it’s going to take an all-out grass-roots effort to turn this bill into law.

With so much at stake, I’m urging all AFT members to take a few minutes to do the following:

■  Look up your U.S. representative and senators by entering your zip code or state at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. (To read the actual bill or get a summary, go to http://thomas.loc.gov. The bill number is H.R. 1644 in the House and S. 969 in the Senate.) 

■  If your members of Congress are co-sponsors, send them a note of thanks. If they aren’t, urge them to become co-sponsors. You can get their contact information through the House and Senate Web sites noted above. The AFT’s Legislative Action Center also provides a sample letter on the RESPECT bill that can be sent directly to your members of Congress: www.unionvoice.org/campaign/KYRiver101106.

Time is short, with the Oakwood decision already hampering organizing efforts. Lori Gay, a Utah nurse, recounted during recent congressional testimony how she and her colleagues voted to join a union in 2002. Yet, last February, after five years of bureaucratic delay, the NLRB’s regional director invalidated their right to join, using the Oakwood precedent as justification. In her testimony, Gay criticized the decision with a memorable quip: “As a charge nurse, I am in charge of the pencil.”

By passing the RESPECT bill, we can put an end to the NLRB’s supervisor shenanigans, safeguarding your right to advocate for your patients and your profession. But we’ll only be successful if you get involved. Protect your voice on the job, and speak up for RESPECT.