Wednesday, October 04, 2006

How to bust the unions

Seems the Republican-controlled National Labor Relations Board has figured out how to do away with unions once and for all--make everyone a supervisor.

From the Los Angeles Times:
Under federal law, employees defined as supervisors aren't entitled to legal protections ensuring their right to join unions.

The labor board's definition could be applied to other kinds of workers, particularly in the fast-growing service sector, where unions have made some gains in recent years even as overall union membership has declined nationally, labor experts said.

Even before the ruling, many employers had classified more of their workers as supervisors, in part to avoid paying them overtime. For example, many employees of restaurants, retailers and other businesses have been classified as "shift supervisors" even though most of their duties — such as waiting on tables or cashiering — are indistinguishable from those they supervise.
Yakov Smirnoff said it best: "What a country!"