Fran Quigley: How union saved worker’s job, respect

[Omaha Steve]

Union workers waved signs at passing cars outside the Indiana Statehouse in April in advance of a rally against a bill to eliminate the common construction wage for public projects.
(Photo: Photo by Lesley Weidenbener, TheStatehouseFile.com)

http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2015/06/23/fran-quigley-union-saved-workers-job-respect/29157277/

For most Indiana workers, the story would end there. As part of our law school clinic, my students and I represent low-income workers in our community. Like Boatright, many have recently lost their jobs. Suddenly, they find themselves without money to pay the rent or feed their families.

Countless times, we have had to break the bad news about these workers’ rights under Indiana law. To be blunt, they don’t have many. If they are not among the few workers with an employment contract, and if their boss did not fire them because of their membership in a handful of legally defined protected classes, there is little chance to fight the termination.

The doctrine is called employment at-will, and it is the law in almost all states. A judge I once clerked for called it “employment at-whim.” For the most part, employers have free rein to fire who they want when they want.

But some Indiana workers have more security. Union members usually have the protection of contracts saying they can only be fired for good cause, and that a decision by the boss is subject to a review process.

FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

1. Kick