Quote of note

An employer determined to defeat a union organizing effort need not worry about getting caught violating the law, given the typical response by the NLRB. The law fails to project to employers a serious expectation of compliance. Unfortunately for workers, U.S. labor law will not protect their right to organize until there are meaningful remedies to deter violations.

Weakness of Labor Law Remedies Undermines Workers' Rights

What would prevent a corporation from lying to shareholders about profits if its only punishment was to promise it wouldn't lie again? Sadly, when a company violates labor law, often the company's only punishment is to post a notice promising not to break the law again. With "remedies" like this, there is little to deter employers from violating labor law. In May 2004, the NLRB ordered just such a remedy, and if anything, it sent a message to nurses in Albany, NY, that the law does little to protect their rights.

It wasn't long after the nurses at Albany Medical Center began to organize a union that they began to experience the inadequacy of labor law. On January 10, 2003, the nurses filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to schedule an election so they could choose union representation with the New York State United Teachers, AFT. One week later, a senior manager at the hospital threatened to withhold a promised $2-an-hour raise if the nurses voted for the union. Not surprisingly, the nurses voted against forming a union. The union then filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the NLRB, alleging that manager's threat to take back the promised wage increase was illegal and had interfered with the nurses' freedom to organize.

On May 28, 2004, 456 days after the union election took place, the NLRB ruled the hospital violated section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act.1 The NLRB affirmed an Administrative Law Judge decision that the nurses "came away with the clear understanding that the wage increase would not be implemented if the Union were certified."

So what did the NLRB do? It implemented its standard remedy. The NLRB ordered the hospital to post a notice telling nurses that "we will not threaten that an announced $2-an-hour pay increase will have to be renegotiated or changed in any way if you select the Union as your collective-bargaining representative."

And that's it. The hospital broke the law—threatened to revoke an upcoming salary increase if the nurses voted for the union—and all it must do is post a notice promising not to violate the law in the future.