Newsday (Melville, New York), August 23, 2006, Wednesday

Copyright 2006 Newsday
Newsday (Melville, New York)
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzlabo234861506aug23,0,491932.story?coll=ny-business-print

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

August 23, 2006 Wednesday

SECTION: BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS

HEADLINE: NLRB again weighs issue of who's a supervisor

BYLINE: Carrie Mason-Draffen, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

BODY:
Aug. 23--Employers and unions are both eagerly awaiting a pending National Labor Relations Board decision that could make it easier for companies to declare certain workers supervisors and thus ineligible for union membership.
It isn't known when the board will rule in the so-called "Kentucky River" cases. Some media reports have said the ruling could come later this month. But an NLRB spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm that.
Union activists fear a decision from the five-member board, all appointees of President George W. Bush, will broaden the definition of a supervisor and make it illegal to organize certain employees in a range of industries including health care, building trades, broadcasting and port shipping.
Rick Fridell, a Hauppauge-based lead organizer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' Third District, said the group's general foremen, who direct the work of others, would be most affected by a broad NLRB decision favoring employers.
"You can bet your last dollar that companies that are trying to stop their workers from forming a union will reclassify [their employees]," Fridell said.
One business group is hoping for a broad interpretation.
"The bottom line is that to be profitable, employers need to have a sufficent number of supervisors to effectively manage and direct their business operations," said Elizabeth Gaudio, with the National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation in Washington D.C.
The labor board said in a statement it is deliberating "the proper legal standards" for determining whether a nurse or certain other skilled employees are supervisors, and thus excluded from union protection.
The decision will hinge on the workers' use of "independent judgment" to direct others. Two health-care facilities and a manufacturer in the so-called Kentucky River cases before the NLRB maintain that employees who exercise independent judgment in directing others are supervisors. These cases are named for a 2001 case, involving Kentucky River Community Care, in which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the National Labor Relations Board's interpretation of "independent judgment."
Previous rulings from the board, which at the time was largely Democratic, have sided with unions and declared such employees nonsupervisory. The current, Republican-dominated board has hinted it may see things differently. In a recent statement it said, "The board is bound by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court."
Boards dominated by Republicans have a history of "not being pro-collective bargaining," said James Gross, a professor of labor law and labor policy at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Still, the ruling's effect will depend on its scope, said Prof. Richard W. Hurd, also of Cornell. "Given the members of the board, it is likely it will tend toward the management decision," he said. "It's not clear how comprehensive the decision will be."
Redefining employees
Advocates for workers say as many as 8 million nationwide would be barred from joining unions if the National Labor Relations Board broadens the definition of "supervisor."
Here's a snapshot of how employees in some major industries might be redefined if the rules are implemented.
Occupation / % redefined as "supervisors" / Affected workers
Registered nurses 35% 843,000
Licensed practical nurses 18% 123,800
Assemblers 4% 91,700
Physicians 19% 52,400
Freight, stock, material handlers 4% 43,800
Post-secondary teachers 12% 42,600
Production inspectors, checkers,
examiners 6% 28,900
Printing press operators 8% 25,100
Editors, reporters 12% 24,100
Tool and die makers 14% 22,000
Dispatchers 9% 11,900
Glaziers 21% 10,200
Business, commerce and
marketing teachers 35% 9,400
Stationary engineers 22% 9,400
Millwrights 7% 5,200
Product demonstrators, promoters
and models; sales 3% 4,600
Sawing machine operators 4% 4,100
Porters and bellhops 4% 2,300
Weighers, measurers, checkers,
samplers 1% 400
Theology teachers 2% 300
Trade and industrial teachers 5% 300
Total 15% 1,387,000
SOURCE: ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE
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