Tell a friend about this article
Previous Article: On the eve of elections in Musicians Local 802
Next Article: In Memoriam: Henry Zeiger, Former AUD staffer
AUDHome--> Union Democracy Review--> Articles
SUBSCRIBE to Union Democracy Review!
Special message -- 1/19/07
To end the employers' arbitrary "right to reject"
--
Electricians press IBEW to defend union hiring halls
By a decided majority, local leaders of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers want to defend the integrity of their union hiring halls from employer sabotage. But their aim seems to meet resistance from a strange source: their own international union office.
At issue is the provision in IBEW construction contracts which gives employers the right to reject any electrician applying for work, even those dispatched under contract from the union's own hiring hall. This right to reject is incontestable by the union; it is unqualified, unlimited. The employer is not required to justify the action or even to explain it. No reason need be cited. In simple and deadly language the provision reads:
"The employer shall have full freedom in selecting employees, and shall have the right to reject any job applicant made available by the union."
With the unilateral right to reject, employers can deny work to the most dedicated union members, the kind who watch over compliance with the contract, who resist unsafe working conditions, who insist on fair and respectful treatment on the job, who build the union. Some employer groups compile blacklists of workers who are not to be hired and circulate the names among themselves. IBEW local business managers and other local leaders who want a good strong union want to end that arbitrary right because they see how it undermines their union by victimizing their best union members.
The trouble is that the right to reject provision remains in all the construction contracts because the IBEW international office insists that it be there. The international had informed locals that it will not approve any contract unless it gives employers that unqualified right to reject.
But IBEW local leaders want a change. At the international convention in 2001, several locals introduced resolutions directing the international to change course. They proposed that contracts permit employers to reject workers sent out from the union hall only for good cause. That change, simple and fair, would make any rejection subject to the grievance procedure. By providing a measure of due process for the individual unionists, it would strengthen the union by protecting its most loyal members.
The international administration opposed any change; it urged the delegates to reject the proposal; but, in a rare act of defiance, the delegates, held fast; and by a clear majority directed the international to work toward ending the right to reject.
The IBEW convention, like all union conventions, is the highest, most authoritative body in the union's power structure. It's word is law, or is supposed to be. Reality shows that this concept is a constitutional fiction. Five years passed ----five years! There is no public record of even a single step taken by the international to comply with the presumably all-powerful convention.
If anything, in those five years, the situation got worse. Reports continued to come to AUD from construction workers victimized by the right to reject. Some IBEW members tell of a new aspect of the problem, exacerbated, ironically, by IBEW's successes in enrolling the workers of small electrical contractors. These new workers, without union experience, our informants tell us, are not familiar with their rights under union conditions. Accustomed to a non-union environment, they tend to be more compliant, less demanding, and even more timid than the seasoned union worker. Under "normal" conditions, no problem; they would learn the facts of life from the old timers. But the right to reject is an abnormality. With a new pool available of more malleable applicants, and the right to reject union-wise, union-building electricians, employers have a new weapon for undermining the union.
The issue arose once again at the IBEW convention in 2006, where the delegates voted once again "to continue" efforts to eliminate the unqualified right to reject and insist upon good cause. But since nothing of importance happened in the five years between conventions, it seems obvious that a repeated convention directive is not likely to change anything. Here are proposals for action that some IBEW members feel might shake the international out of its torpor:
1. Circulate a mass membership petition throughout the IBEW directed to the international office asking it to:
a. Remind all members and locals of the two convention decisions on right to reject and informing them that the international intends to comply with those decisions.
b. Remove from the list of mandated contractual provisions the section granting employers the unrestricted right to reject
c. Report periodically to the membership on what steps it has taken to carry out the convention mandate.
d. Inform construction locals that the international stands ready to provide advice and assistance to locals which want to negotiate and end to the offending provision.
2. Request all regional vice presidents to support the petition and raise the issue at the international executive board.
3. At local meetings, propose a motion to endorse and circulate the petition.
4. If your local is strong enough, as part of a campaign to eliminate the provision, ask for the backing of the international when your contract comes up for renewal.
If you or your local takes any kind of action to press
for the change, inform Union Democracy Review or www.uniondemocracy.org
so that we can pass on the encouraging news to others.
Articles on the IBEW:
IBEW
president Hill upholds Canadian member's rights
IBEW local fights employers' "right to reject"
Electricians
press IBEW to defend union hiring halls
Whose
"IBEW" is it? An Electrician on the internet
2KB
of free speech? ACLU & Public Citizen sue in IBEW Local 46 election
IBEW roundup: electricians rally at international
headquarters, a message from Herman Benson, and IBEW officers thumb noses at convention
decision
Electricians to Rally to Take Back the Union.
New Voices at AUD construction
trades conference.
IBEW delegates demand due
process in construction hiring.
Snapshots from the IBEW
Previous Article: On the eve of elections in Musicians Local 802
Next Article: In Memoriam: Henry Zeiger, Former AUD staffer
This website is made possible by contributions from union members and supporters like you. Please help us build the movement for union democracy, join or contribute to AUD.
AUDHome; Legal Rights; Education; Union Democracy Review; Books; AUDLinks
Page designed by Matt Noyes, National
Writers Union/UAW, and Rachel Szekely
The Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn,
New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114; info@uniondemocracy.org
This work is licensed
under a Creative
Commons License.
Use
the following credit line on the materials you use:
"From the
website of the Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org. Email:
info@uniondemocracy.org. 104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA;
718-564-1114"
Please notify us at websteward@uniondemocracy.org when you use material from the site.
Send comments or suggestions on the website to websteward@uniondemocracy.org.