I am a citizen, and I deserve respect. The NLRB ruled that the company proceeded systematically to fire the most active union supporters, including Jean Aliza and Ernest Duval. But in 1999 the workers were still not reinstated because of appeals to the courts. Ernest Duval was still vocal about his union support when he spoke to Human Rights Watch in July 1999, but he was also frustrated. It's been four or five years now, and I've got bills to pay.
Management has the time to do whatever they want.
More than 20,000 workers are employed at Microsoft's facilities in the Seattle area. But 6,000 of them are not employed by Microsoft. Instead, they are employed by temporary agencies supplying high-tech workers to Microsoft and other area companies. By defining perma-temps as contractors employed by various temporary agencies, Microsoft avoids being their employer for purposes of the NLRA's protection of the right to organize. Meanwhile, the agencies tell temps that in order to form a union that agency management will deal with, they have to organize other employees of the agency, not just those working at Microsoft.