Letters of Opposition to H.R. 2587, the "Eviscerate Workers' Rights and Ship Jobs Overseas Bill"
The following is a list of organizations who have voiced their opposition to the GOP's "Job Outsourcers' Bill of Rights". H.R. 2587 would remove the only meaningful remedy available to workers if a company illegally moves operations or eliminates work because workers engaged in protected activities such as organizing a union. An employer can outsource for any reason, except for an unlawful reason. Retaliating against workers for exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act is one unlawful reason.
"H.R. 2587 will cripple workers' rights, hobble the National Labor Relations Board, make it easier for companies to ship jobs overseas, and create a new race to the bottom for American workers."
"The bill dramatically changes the worker protections historically embodied in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by seeking to limit the rights and obligations of parties to bargain collectively and seriously impairs the agency's remedial authority...These changes are broad in scope and will seriously deny workers' existing rights. They will also fundamentally change the operation of the NLRA and the collective bargaining relationship of the parties it overseas."
"?It is currently unlawful for an employer to threaten employees with plant closure or relocation in retaliation for organizing a union. H.R. 2587 would change that by allowing an employer to issue a threat without any fear of corrective action. Under current law, a decision to close or relocate a company simply to thwart union organization is deemed “unlawful motivation.” National Labor Relations Board regulations provide that if there is clear evidence of such unlawful motivation, a company may be compelled to restore the work. H.R. 2587 would remove that possible remedy and thereby also remove the single most-effective deterrence against such threats and actions."
"H.R. 2587 would strip the National Labor Relations Board of its adjudicative authority to enforce basic labor protections, and will allow employers to openly discriminate against workers who exercise their rights to join together and bargain for better working conditions through a union. Companies would be allowed to openly outsource jobs, intimidate and fire workers without repercussions in retaliation for American workers who exercise their rights under current U.S. law."
"The legislation is especially dangerous as it would eliminate the ability of the NLRB to take action against any employer that is found to have been uin flagrant violation of labor law. Actions that the NLRB has taken under both Republican and Democratic majoriteis against emplyoers that have engaged in blatant violations of labor law would no longer be possible if H.R. 2587 were to become law."
"As if interfering with an ongoing law enforcement proceeding isn't enough, the bill would have far broader repercussions, giving U.S. employers unprecedented freedom to discriminate against their union and non-union employees, without facing any serious penalty. The rights of millions of American workers, both union and non-union, are threatened by this bill."
"In effect, H.R. 2587 would strip working men and women of rights and protections that they fought long and hard to win over 80 years ago. It is another in a series of intensifying attacks by those who want to go back to an era when working men and women were without rights, protections, and a voice in the workplace. They are the backbone of our country and our economy, and they deserve your respect and support. H.R. 2587 is another in a long line of devices, thinly veiled and sophisticated, to block and suppress the independent free voice of workers. H.R. 2587 should be recognized for what it is - a backdoor effort to eliminate the National Labor Relations Act."
"The rights of workers to join together in concerted activity and to bargain collectively are core human rights respected and observed in democracies around the globe. The UAW submits that Congress should be voting to strengthen the penalties available to remedy violations of the NLRA so that engaging in illegal anti-union conduct will no longer be 'just a cost of doing business.' Congress surely should not be further diluting those rights."
"The NLRB serves as a critical backstop to preventing overzealous employers from intervening with workers' constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of association. H.R. 2587 will severely weaken these necessary protections by eliminating the only recourse workers' have if their employer illegally moves its operations or eliminates work while employees are engaged in the protected activity of trying to form a union."