Obama's Right on Crucial Issue of Replacement Workers

Daily Kos. Posted March 6, 2008.

This is a diary from TeamsterPower

You can't be fired for going out on strike. That's against the law. But if the boss hires an untrained scab to permanently take your place, he or she does not have to give you your job back when the strike is over.

Barack Obama has pledged to protect striking workers:

Obama supports the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if necessary. He will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods.

Permanent replacements have been around since 1938 when the Supreme Court said in NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Telegraph Co. that a company does not have to reinstate "economic strikers" if it hired strikebreakers to continue the business. Now, for you business majors out there, that may sound well and good. Why should I rehire a worker who went on strike for a raise if I can find someone to do the job for less money? Why? Because it's fair. It's the right thing to do. Because many times, these workers have sacrificed to make your business a success and when it succeeds they should be rewarded, not treated like draft animals or machines.

Consider the workers at Diamond Walnut in Stockton, Calif. In 1985 Diamond was facing bankruptcy and turned to its workers for help. The workers, Teamsters from Local Union 601, agreed to take pay cuts of up to 40 percent to help the company weather the tough times.

By 1991 Diamond had reached the Fortune 500 and bragged of record profits. But instead of giving those profits back to its employees, the company demanded more concessions.

On Sept. 4, 1991, the workers went on strike -- a fight that would last 14 years only because Diamond was prepared. As soon as the strike was called the company began hiring replacement workers.

Watch this video for the full story:

No worker should have to wait 14 years for justice, living on $200-a-week strike pay.

The Diamond Walnut strike caught the attention of the Clinton administration which supported legislation that would have banned employers from dismissing strikers. The legislation died on a cloture vote in the Senate. It failed by three votes; five Democrats failed to support the bill (Boren D-OK, Bumpers D-AR, Hollings D-SC, Pryor D-AR, Sanford D-NC). President Clinton followed with an executive order that would have banned federal purchasing from companies that employed replacement workers. The order was struck down.

See more stories tagged with: labor, obama

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »