AFL-CIO Takes Case Against Bush Administration to International Labor Organization

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AFL-CIO Takes Case Against Bush Administration to International Labor Organization
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2007-10-29 22:42. Evidence

By Mark Gruenberg, Press Associates, Inc.

Washington - Saying the Bush administration's National Labor Relations Board "has turned its back on workers precisely at the moment it should be invigorating the protections" of U.S. labor law, the AFL-CIO filed a massive complaint against the Bush board with the International Labour Organization on Oct. 25.

Due to the actions of the Bush-named GOP majority on the 5-person board, "The National Labor Relations Act" - the nation's basic labor law - "has now become a regulatory regimen that enshrines the so-called rights of employers to oppose the efforts of their employees to engage in freedom of association," the federation states.

"Under Bush, America's labor board has so failed our nation's workers that we must now turn to the world's international watchdogs to monitor and intervene," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "The Bush board is kryptonite for America's workers. There is no historic precedent for such aggressive efforts by the board to curtail workers' rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining."

The complaint went to the Brussels-based international group for investigation and the agency typically asks the accused government to respond. But there is no time frame for the probe and ILO has no enforcement powers against the Bush administration or its NLRB if it finds wrongdoing that violates international labor conventions.

In its complaint, the AFL-CIO paints a damning picture of the concerted effort by the Bush board majority to weaken and deny workers' rights, refuse labor law coverage to large groups of workers and generally curb the freedom of association. It cites a pattern in 61 NLRB rulings since Bush took office.

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