The company refused again, offering only to take back workers when one of the replacement workers left. To block the order, the company appealed the decision and vowed to keep appealing for years. In the meantime the workers must scramble to find some way to support their families. The results of these widespread violations of basic rights are apparent. The weakening of unions means that the benefits of prosperity are not fairly shared.
Productivity goes up, profits go up, executive salaries and benefits soar, but wages stagnate.
A CEO now makes over 400 times what the average worker makes. Human Rights Watch calls upon the Congress to insure rapid reinstatement and back pay for workers fired for organizing, as well as faster elections and expedited appeals to resolve unfair labor practices. It calls on the US Congress to ensure that the right to organize is extended to farmworkers, household domestic workers and others not currently covered by federal labor laws. It urges the Congress to ratify the international labor conventions on worker organizing and collective bargaining. But none of this will take place under a Republican congress that opposes unions, blocks labor law reform and even resists raising the minimum wage.