NLRB win for Teamsters is a victory for millions

The Teamsters were at the forefront of a significant victory for workers last week. And the decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could provide a voice for millions of additional Americans.

As part of the NLRB's "joint employer" ruling, employers that rely on temporary or contracted workers can now be held accountable for the actions of the firms they use to oversee workers.The ruling will have a significant impact on how franchisers like McDonald's and other mostly low-income employers do business.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said:

This decision will make a tremendous difference for workers' rights on the job. Employers will no longer be able to shift responsibility for their workers and hide behind loopholes to prevent workers from organizing or engaging in collective bargaining. This is a victory for workers across America.

The NLRB ruling resulted from a 2013 case brought by Local 350 in Daly City, Calif. against Browning-Ferris, a waste management company that is owned by Republic Services -- the second-largest waste services company in the U.S. The union maintained that Republic had control over wage and working conditions for its workers employed through Leadpoint Services, a staffing agency, and counted as a joint employer with that agency.

The Teamsters have repeatedly fought against employers shifting responsibility of their workforce, whether through misclassification at companies like FedEx, at our nation's ports or through the use of staffing agencies in the food processing industry at companies like Taylor Farms.

It's time for corporations to realize that mistreatment in the workplace is not acceptable. The NLRB's decision will give more workers the ability to stand up for their rights and to be able to rely on unions to advocate for their jobs. That's real justice for everyday Americans.

Misclassification is another corporate trick

Too many corporations are taking advantage of hardworking Americans who are trying to earn a living to support their families. Instead of bringing them on as full-time workers, these companies go on the cheap by hiring temporary or contract workers who don't have the same job protections or benefits. Meanwhile, the employer avoids paying some taxes and unemployment insurance.

Some firms are using temp workers to sort recycling.

Misclassification is getting worse nationwide, as we noted in another blog last week. A Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GALA) report released this week details another such example, U.S. recycling workers, who are often temp workers who have fewer workplace protections and are less likely to be informed of their legal right to a safe and healthy workplace.

As detailed in the document:

Reliance on temporary staffing agencies has allowed companies to distance themselves from responsibility for worker health and safety. Among employers who use temporary labor, failure to properly train and orient workers who are new to the job, or have been brought on as temporary labor, is a common practice and a serious concern. Research about work-related injuries for low-wage workers shows that workers who have received health and safety training are more likely to seek medical attention and to notify employers of injuries than workers who have not received health and safety training.

Such practices are the latest example of corporate America trying to fleece the public. Following the same playbook it uses to jam lousy trade deals through Congress, big business insists it needs to change the rules so can remain in business. This at a time when companies are registering record profits.

Luckily, there are some instances where misclassification is not allowed to run rampant. Fed Ex Ground, for instance, recently agreed to pay $228 million to about 2,300 drivers in California that the company improperly classified as independent contractors from 2000 to 2007. The settlement came after a federal appeals court in San Francisco last August determined the workers were employees under California law.

That determination and others like it are causing some employers to act. Instacart, an on-demand delivery service, announced this week that it will transition some 300 workers in Boston and Chicago from independent contractors to employees with benefits.

But that in and of itself won't change the dynamic that seems to be increasingly gripping our government. Our elected officials too often are doing the bidding of big business and instituting policies that are hurting workers. It happened with the fast track trade bill and it's happening with misclassification. They say these moves create jobs, but there is no evidence that it does. Instead, there are just bigger profits for corporations.

This is part of the reason that a presidential candidate like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is resonating with so many people. He makes it clear he won't turn his back on people, like many on Capitol Hill already have. Too many believe government is of and by corporations now. It should be of and by the people like our founders intended.

West Coast innovations in improving workers' lives

Two recent developments that promise to improve workers' lives caught our attention, and both have to do with the West Coast high-tech industry, including Microsoft, Apple, Genentech and Facebook.

In Seattle, Microsoft announced Thursday that it would require many of its 2,000 contractors and vendors to give  15 paid days off for sick days and vacation time for their employees who work for Microsoft. The New York Times notes,

As the economy has become more dependent on contract workers, workers’ rights advocates have voiced concern about their working conditions, especially for low-skilled jobs. 

The situation is particularly acute in the tech industry, where average full-time employees earn more than $115,000 a year, along with generous benefits like child care, gourmet cafeterias and luxury shuttle rides to work. Many of the contracted service workers — who take care of the children, cook the food or drive the shuttles — earn near poverty-level wages and often do not receive basic benefits like sick leave.

Of course, there's another way for contract employees to win paid time off: Organize. And that's what San Francisco shuttle drivers are doing with the Teamsters. 

The city's Board of Supervisor on Tuesday may have made it easier. It passed a resolution urging the city’s transit agency to consider labor harmony when approving commuter shuttles to high-tech firms. 

Recently, Facebook shuttle drivers who work for Loop Transportation were organized under the leadership of Rome Aloise, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 853. In February they worked out a contract that raised the drivers into the middle class. According to the local, 

Under the contract, drivers now making $15-20/hr. will see their wages increase to $21-29/hr. They will enjoy fully paid family health insurance, paid vacation, holidays, sick days, retirement, and more.

Local 853 went on to organize drivers for Compass Transportation, which makes up some of the fleets for Ebay, Genentech, Apple, Yahoo, and Zynga. They have yet to reach an agreement. 

Said Brother Doug Bloch, Political Director for Teamsters Joint Council 7, 

There are a couple organizing campaigns happening as we speak, and the workers are afraid of retaliation. But that’s what the board addresses with this resolution.

Teamsters Local 665 is organizing shuttle drivers at Bauer Transportation, but not without difficulty. NBC Bay Area reported on Tuesday,

The Teamsters filed an unfair labor relations complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Bauer, citing Bauer’s surveillance of employees and efforts to prevent employee union elections. That complaint is currently under review. Bauer is one of the eight major shuttle contractors for large, and typically high-tech, Bay Area companies. 

When Teamsters began talking to Bauer’s shuttle drivers, the union felt that company management turned hostile. During outreach in the last month, Mark Gleason, principal officer for Teamsters 665, said that management at Bauer followed and confronted the Teamsters who were meeting with drivers in San Francisco. He wouldn't disclose the details of this supposed confrontation.

Let's hope San Francisco's transit agency heeds the Board of Supervisors.