Judge Rules Collective Bargaining Rights Protected
“In a ruling that has far-reaching implications for Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Maine, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri, a federal judge threw out labor law reforms at Chicago’s McCormick Place that the Illinois state legislature enacted in 2010 following supplication from the convention industry.The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman affirms that collective bargaining rights cannot be overturned by governmental edict. Guzman told the Legislature “it had no business trying to interfere with collective bargaining” according to Marvin Gittler, an attorney representing Local 727 of the Teamsters.Guzman held that the National Labor Relations Act preempts the Legislature from dictating terms for unions working at McCormick Place.
This ruling is similar to the finding of The International Commission for Labor Rights, which has said, in part: The ICLR identified the right of “freedom of association” as a fundamental right and affirmed that the right to collective bargaining is an essential element of freedom of association. These rights, which have been recognized worldwide, provide a brake on unchecked corporate or state power.
In 1935, when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (also known as the NLRA, or the Wagner Act), it recognized the direct relationship between the inequality of bargaining power of workers and corporations and the recurrent business depressions. That is, by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners, the economy fell into depression. The law therefore recognized as policy of the United States the encouragement of collective bargaining”.
more: http://www.examiner.com/
discussion: http://www.democraticunderground.com/
IOWA STATE CAPITOL WEST STEPS 5:30 – 6:30 PM
On
April 4,1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis,
where he was supporting sanitation workers demanding their dream: The
right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life.
Today,
that same demand is electrifying people across America. It's the demand
of all people—black, white, Latino and Asian American: The right to join together for our common dreams.
Join us at the Iowa State Capitol April 4, 2011, to STAND IN SOLIDARITY
with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana across this nation
where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take
away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It's a time to show: WE ARE ONE.
For More Info Contact:
IOWA AFL-CIO
515-262-9571
ifl@iowaaflcio.org
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