Jahana Hayes Calls For Union Protections: ‘Unfair Labor Practices Rose By 7%' In 2024

4 months ago

On Wednesday, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) questioned NLRB officials on union protections during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you.

00:01And thank you to our witnesses for your testimony today.

00:04Last year, 16.2 million workers were represented by a union, with the total number of workers

00:09in unions growing by 191,000.

00:12However, it's important to keep these numbers in context.

00:17The percentage of workers represented by a union in 2023 decreased slightly from 11.3%

00:24to 11.2%.

00:26This is now the sixth hearing in this subcommittee during the 118th Congress on the topic of

00:32unions and the freedom of workers to organize.

00:35That is one hearing for every 1% of the private sector workers represented by a union in 2023.

00:42The right to organize, collectively bargain, and form a union has been the law for nearly

00:47a century.

00:49Despite this longstanding precedent, many employers continue to commit unfair labor

00:53practices because the benefits of union busting outweigh the penalties for breaking the law.

00:59In FY2023, charges of unfair labor practices were up 10%, and in the first six months of

01:05FY24, unfair labor practice charges rose by 7%.

01:10Until recently, employers faced no monetary penalty for illegally retaliating against

01:15workers for exercising their right to organize and form a union.

01:19If a worker was fired for participating in a union drive, they were entitled to backpay

01:23following the resolution of a case before the NLRB and could have their job reinstated

01:29at that point.

01:30But the employer would have to provide the money they would be paying had they not broken

01:37the law, but the worker could face additional negative consequences beyond lost wages.

01:43Without a source of income or benefits from the employer, a worker may rack up credit

01:46card debts, miss rental or mortgage payments, and deal with unexpected medical expenses.

01:52In December of 2022, the NRLB issued a decision in Thrive, Inc., allowing the board to seek

02:03a make-all remedy for an affected worker for all direct or forcibly pecuniary harms due

02:08to an unfair labor practice.

02:11My question is for Ms. Goldsmith.

02:13In your experience, when workers can only win back pay after suffering from an unfair

02:17labor practice by employers, are they truly made whole?

02:22Thank you for the question.

02:26When an employee is fired, let's say, for participating in union organizing, they might

02:34get a backpay remedy.

02:36It might be years after the fact, long after they've gone on to other jobs, long after

02:42they've moved on with their lives, and that backpay remedy will also be reduced based

02:49on whatever earnings they've had in the meantime.

02:55They can also experience all kinds of other direct losses, such as medical expenses they

03:04might have to pay out of pocket because they lost their health insurance when they got

03:07fired, or job search expenses that are connected to having been fired.

03:14The decision in Thrive acknowledged that all of those are part of making a person whole

03:22if they have suffered this kind of injury as a result of the employer's unlawful act.

03:30And Thrive, I'll just point it out, that those kinds of remedies have long been recognized

03:40in many cases decided by the board going back decades, and it just kind of collected them

03:45in one place.

03:47Thank you.

03:48In your testimony, you mentioned that in FY23, the board recovered almost $57 million in

03:53backpay for employees whose rights were violated.

03:56While that's an impressive figure, it strikes me as a sign that many unscrupulous employers

04:00are willing to just provide backpay to prevent workers from organizing.

04:05Will the board's decision in Thrive create a more meaningful deterrent against unfair

04:09labor practices, in your opinion?

04:11I think it contributes to being a more effective deterrent.

04:16The facts on the ground are that employers are willing to violate the act because the

04:23remedies are quite weak, honestly.

04:27And the more those remedies can actually act as a deterrent, the better off.

04:36Employers are willing to take the chance of violating the act because in the short term

04:41and the facts on the ground, they get the result they want, which is to shut down the

04:45union organizing effort.

04:48Thank you.

04:49I have one more question, but I only have 10 seconds left, so I'm going to yield back

04:52so that my time doesn't expire.

04:53Thank you for being here today.

04:54I appreciate it.

04:55Thank you.

04:56I now recognize Mr. Wahlberg for five minutes.

04:59Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to the panel for being here.

05:03So often, when people think about labor policy,

Jahana Hayes Calls For Union Protections: ‘Unfair Labor Practices Rose By 7%' In 2024

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