One of the great tactics used by companies to rip off workers--and there are many--is to pretend like the Big Dog at the top (say, McDonald's) doesn't actually directly employ workers who labor down in the distributed workplaces that clearly have a relationship--through franchises, in particular, in the fast food industry--with the Big Dog.
It's one of those scams. And the National Labor Relations Board is using logic to correct this scam,
Today:
The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday handed down one of the biggest decisions of the Obama presidency, ruling that companies can be held equally responsible for labor violations committed by their contractors.
At issue is whether waste management firm Browning-Ferris is responsible for the treatment of its contractor’s employees. The Houston-based company hired Leadpoint Business Services to staff a recycling facility in California.
The labor board determined Browning-Ferris should be considered a joint employer with the Phoenix-based staffing agency. As a result, the company could be pulled into collective bargaining negotiations with those employees and held liable for any labor violations committed against them.
This is a sharp departure from previous labor laws that hold companies responsible only for employees who are under their direct control by setting their hours, wages, or job responsibilities. Companies could avoid those requirements by hiring staffing agencies and subcontractors that deal more closely with the workers.
But the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charted a new course Thursday. A regional director initially ruled in favor of Browning-Ferris, but the Teamsters union, which represents the workers, appealed the case to the national board.
It’s the latest in a string of major victories for labor groups under President Obama's administration, which has already issued several sweeping executive actions on worker protections and wages.
The Democratic-controlled NLRB — which has a recent history of ruling against businesses — has also taken steps to make it easier for employees to unionize.
The
NYT:
“The decision today could be one of the more significant by the N.L.R.B. in the last 35 years,” said Marshall Babson, a lawyer who helped write the brief for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the case and who was a Democratic appointee to the labor board in Ronald Reagan’s presidency. “ Depending on how the board applies its new ‘indirect test,’ it will likely ensnare an ever-widening circle of employers and bargaining relationships.”
Beyond Browning-Ferris, the ruling may have a significant immediate effect on a case the labor board is litigating against McDonald’s and several of its franchisees. In that case, the N.L.R.B.’s general counsel, who essentially acts as a prosecutor, asserts that the company is a joint employer along with a number of franchisees, making it potentially liable for numerous reported violations of workers’ rights, like retaliating against those who have tried to organize unions.
Thursday’s N.L.R.B. ruling, by enshrining a broader joint-employer definition into doctrine, makes it more likely to apply in the McDonald’s case as well, though experts point out that joint employer designations are typically very dependent on the circumstances of each case.
At some point it's worth discussing whether, and how, unions can take advantage of this ruling.
But, for today: I have a lot of sympathy for the emotional view that there is no difference between the two main political parties. And, in many respects, that is true.
However, in day-to-day things like this, it does matter--because this ruling could mean a lot more people get the protection of a union at work, which means they get probably a slightly better standard of living and a little less stress in life.
That matters.
And that doesn't happen without someone in the White House who will appoint a chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board who believes unions are good things and workers deserve a fair shake.
That won't happen under a Republican.
Yes, it's complicated. I think, though, that it's possible to walk in a world with two ideas that might seem contradictory--we want to upend the political system AND we want to make sure that, in the short term, until the political system is changed, people have a better life.
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