In 2010, after his Illinois printing company was bought by a private equity firm, Marcus Hedger was illegally fired for his union activities as a shop steward for the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters. Last September, the full National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—two Democrats and one Republican at the time—unanimously ruled he should be rehired with back pay.
What happened? Nothing, except to Marcus. The company appealed the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and it has been able to avoid reinstating Marcus because his case is on hold over a radical challenge to NLRB board appointments.
Marcus lost his home and is working at a job that pays one-third of what he was earning before.
“It was the American Dream. It was our house and our home—and it was taken away,” says Marcus.
Watch Marcus’ story below and please share:
Is this what we want for America? A country where workers’ rights are dispensable? If the U.S. Senate fails to confirm President Obama’s bipartisan nominees to serve on the NLRB, even more workers will be hurt.
Call your senators toll free at 1-888-264-6154 and tell them to confirm the NLRB nominations now.
We can’t rebuild our economy and level the playing field for all working people—union and nonunion— if the law protecting workers’ rights isn’t enforced. That’s the role of the National Labor Relations Board—and it needs to work. The less the board works, the more America’s economy falls out of whack, as we see today, with record inequality and a shrinking middle class.