Beck aired false claim that a union only needs 30 percent support from employees to be "established"
SUMMARY: Fox News' Glenn Beck aired an on-screen graphic with the headline, "THEN ... WAGNER ACT," which falsely asserted that if 30 percent of employees want a union, "it gets established." In fact, the Wagner Act, which was passed in the 1930s, required that for union representation to be established, a majority of employees in a bargaining unit within a company had to "designate or select" a union to represent them. The National Labor Relations Act as it stands today also contains a majority requirement.
During the February 12 edition of his Fox News program, Glenn Beck aired an on-screen graphic with the headline, "THEN ... WAGNER ACT," which falsely asserted that if 30 percent of employees want a union, "it gets established." In fact, the Wagner Act, the original National Labor Relations Act, which was passed in the 1930s, required that for union representation to be established, a majority of employees in a bargaining unit within a company had to "designate or select" a union to represent them. The National Labor Relations Act as it stands today also contains a majority requirement.
From the Wagner Act as it was passed in 1935:
Sec. 9. (a) Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes, shall be the exclusive representatives of all the employees in such a unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided, That any individual employee or a group of employees shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer.
(b) The Board shall decide in each case whether, in order to insure employees the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and otherwise to effectuate the policies of this Act, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plan unit, or subdivision thereof.
(c) Whenever a question affecting commerce arises concerning the representation of employees, the Board may investigate such controversy and certify to the parties, in writing, the name or names of the representatives that have been designated or selected. In any such investigation, the board shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, either in conjunction with a proceeding under section 10 or otherwise, and may take a secret ballot of employees, or utilize any other suitable method to ascertain such representatives.
(d) Whenever an order of the Board made pursuant to section 10 (c) is based in whole or in part upon facts certified following an investigation pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, and there is a petition for the enforcement or review of such order, such certification and the record of such investigation shall be included in the transcript of the entire record required to be filed under subsections 10 (e) or 10 (f), and thereupon the decree of the court enforcing, modifying, or setting aside in whole or in part the order of the Board shall be made and entered upon the pleadings, testimony, and proceedings set forth in such transcript.
The "30 percent" figure appears to be a misrepresentation of a section of a provision of the National Labor Relations Act as it stands today. Under current law, the NLRB must hold an election if 30 percent of employees in a bargaining unit authorize representation by a union. The Taft-Hartley Act still requires that a majority of employees in a bargaining unit select a union in order for that union to represent the unit.
From Section 9 of the current version of the National Labor Relations Act:
(a) Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes, shall be the exclusive representatives of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided, That any individual employee or a group of employees shall have the right at any time to present grievances to their employer and to have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention of the bargaining representative, as long as the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of a collective- bargaining contract or agreement then in effect: Provided further, That the bargaining representative has been given opportunity to be present at such adjustment.
[...]
(e) (1) Upon the filing with the Board by a labor organization, which is the representative of employees as provided in section 9 (a), of a petition alleging that 30 per centum or more of the employees within a unit claimed to be appropriate for such purposes desire to authorize such labor organization to make an agreement with the employer of such employees requiring membership m such labor organization as a condition of employment in such unit, upon an appropriate showing thereof the Board shall, if no question of representation exists, take a secret ballot of such employees, and shall certify the results thereof to such labor organization and to the employer.
(2) Upon the filing with the Board, by 30 per centum or more of the employees in a bargaining unit covered by an agreement between their employer and a labor organization made pursuant to section 8
(a) (3) (ii), of a petition alleging they desire that such authority be rescinded, the Board shall take a secret ballot of the employees in such unit, and shall certify the results thereof to such labor organization and to the employer.
From the February 12 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:
BECK: Burton, I want to talk about -- first of all, there's -- there's several things going on in America right now. There's big spending coming, which the New Deal did.
BURTON FOLSOM (author and history professor at Hillsdale College): Right.
BECK: There is the merging of corporations and government, which the New Deal did. And then the last one --
FOLSOM: Right.
BECK: -- was controlling labor and giving power to the labor union. We touched on this last night. There was a mini-depression or another depression in the Great Depression. It started, I think, in 1936 or '37. It was caused by the Wagner Act. Can you explain this?
FOLSOM: Sure. There are actually a couple of causes, Glenn. We had the high taxes and the minimum wage. They greatly contributed to the failure of the New Deal to get us out of the Great Depression and get that -- unemployment ended up being 19 percent and 20 percent.
But the unions played their role, too. The unions were terrible. We had the beginnings, after the Wagner Act, of the United Auto Workers striking against General Motors.
BECK: OK.
FOLSOM: That was done specifically with Walter Reuther, member of the Socialist Party at the time, striking and helping the UAW strike a sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, against General Motors at a key plant that they had in that city.
When Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingraham and the entire crew over at FOX "news" can't stop raving about Socialism, I can't help but become more and more convinced that there must be something very, very good about Socialism.
Listening to these wingnuts on the radio and TV, it's clear that there's nothing they hate more than Unions, tax cuts for the middle class, and assistance to the poor. Realizing this, why would anyone take their views on the economy seriously?
OooooooH!
BURTON FOLSOM
Would that be the same Burton Fulsom who said that the Robber Barrons in the early days of the industrial revolution did not prey on the public and argued they were constructive visionaries who benefited consumers?
Another rewriter of history.
"BECK: There is the merging of corporations and government, which the New Deal did"
The cartoon continues. I believe the merging of corporations and government was a big theme of the Bushies. They had corporate lobbyists writing their bills.
Ooooooh but wookie, what you suggest sounds suspiciously like what Karl Marx said on Page 34 of The Communist Manifesto 150 years ago, and is therefore easily dismissed by the brilliant right-wingers who pollute this site who think that all they have to do is label something "Socialistic" to shut down any discussion of it in polite discourse.
Employees sell their labor
Wrong,wrong,wrong, Wookie! Employees are given the gift of a job by altruistic employers who are trying to create more of these gifts in spite of being punished with taxes.You're not paying attention.
And remember, those people who give us jobs are NEVER poor. I'm just sayin'... Even though a lot of companies lost trillions of dollars over the last couple of years, they're still not "poor".
What is it with these guys and socialism? Is this the new McCarthyism? It appears so. Disagree with someone? You're a socialist. Don't like someone's economic plans? Must be a darn dirty socialist. I can't wait until all of this stuff works out, the economy recovers, and we're stronger than we were before, and then we can REALLY SHOVE IT in their faces.
The best thing is that the people who come here screaming about Socialism are so obviously losing the argument, just like the people who rant against Gay Marriage, Abortion and Global Warming. For all their hysterics and desperate pleas to turn back the clock, the world is changing around them for the better. We are becoming more Progressive, we are demanding that society become fairer, and we are no longer willing to demonize the poor and exalt the wealthy. We took baby steps toward Socialism in the early part of the 20th century with govt regulation of some businesses and the shattering of monopolies, and nice long strides in the 1930s and 1960s. Today, nobody seriously questions the need for Public Schools, Govt protection of bank deposits, regulation of airlines, drug companies, etc. etc. In a few decades, no one from either party will seriously question National Health Care or Green Energy policies. If any do, they'll be dismissed as cranks, just as the ocassional Ron Paul nutjob is today when he criticizes Social Security.
Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity etc. can spend three hours a day shouting red-faced into a microphone, they'll have as much impact in the final reckoning as a child stabbing the incoming tide with a plastic sword. At least, like the child, they'll have fun doing it. And it will have no impact on the outcome.
I think we should start at the beginning. God made dinosaurs, but they got too fat and died, and cartoonishly made oil, according to some churchianity textbooks, which Mr. Rockefeller pumped out of the ground to get generally wealthy like a real fat cow. They Teddy R. busted up his company, around the time the meat packers were killing their workers and getting rich.
Much later, in the 1930s, union organizers were getting killed. Now much much later, not very many of them (less than 30%) get killed. Most of them get fired.
"Employees sell their labor, why shouldn't they name their price?"
I don't know what economy you live in, but when I walk into a store and see something I need or want, I don't tell the clerk at what price I want to buy something. And being that it is a free market, if I don't like the price of that brand new thing-a-majig I am going to go elsewhere. If Wal-Mart has the same thing cheaper I could go back to the original place but they have no obligation to sell to me for that cheaper price.
Why should it be any different for the Unions? They can tell GM what they want, but if GM doesn't want to pay it, then that employee can just ease on down the road elsewhere. I am tired of the labor unions holding these companies hostage for as long as they have. They served a purpose in 1935 when employers were actually abusing their laborers...tell me what good they are now but a "dues" cash cow to the higher ups.
If you think companies are not abusing workers today then you really are "libtarded."
Since you mentioned Wal-Mart, are you aware of how they treat the manufacturers who supply them?
If a manufacturer in China pays his employees $10 to make his product. They tell that manufacturer that they can get the same thing made in Sri Lanka for $8. Then they tell the Sri Lankan that they've got a supplier in Islamabad who'll do it for $6.
IBM is laying off American workers and asking them if they'll accept the same job in Mumbai for what the same person earns in Mumbai.
Are you able to compete with workers in Islamabad or Mumbai who'll do your job for less? Are you willing to move to Mumbai, or Ho Chi Minh City?
when I walk into a store and see something I need or want, I don't tell the clerk at what price I want to buy something.
Exactly, webbed lizard. The seller sets the price, regulated by a fair market.That's what Wookie said.
Why are you arguing with yourself?
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toi co the co duoc ga chien khong ?
Throughout the history of this country, gradually, but surely, the ideals of Capitalism were firmly established to the exclusion of any other form of existence. The very notion of caring for the less fortunate or even fairness was touted as the evil that must be resisted at all costs. Terms like "socialism", "share the wealth" and "welfare" were practically synonymous with "Godless Communism". Rewards for individual hard work and imagination was the only system, an admirable and workable system, all things considered. What was not considered was the natural inclination of certain individuals to accumulate ALL the fruits of that labor and imagination. Greed replaced ambition and power over others became the overarching goal. It was only a matter of time when these conditions became the religion of the country. There could be no middle ground; it had to be either Capitalism OR Socialism. The days when there could be no dialogue about our system are over. The questions are now beginning to come to light, given the huge disparity among our citizens. Access to better education has become out of reach for many striving to improve their lives. Health care is available only to some. The natives are getting restless.
" Access to better education has become out of reach for many striving to improve their lives. Health care is available only to some. The natives are getting restless." Dig it donald like I hear some of the conservative posters here who advocate letting the market "reset" and do nothing. Like this crisis is happening in a vacuum. The great depression of the last century resulted in a world war and over half the globe turning socialist, do they think I or any other worker is going to sit by and watch our homes being taken away, our wages gutted, our children poisoned by contaminated food while the rich eat high on the hog??? How long can we prop up governments that allow multi-national corporations to exploit their people with starvation wages. "A hard rain is gonna fall..."
They think they're on to something and for true wingnuts it works.
They've been able to repeat, repeat, repeat and their followers dutifully use the words and phrases of the week/month/whatever.
The vast majority don't know what true socialism is....
Their god is "the free Market"
Beck, and his guests, act as if Unions are not a good thing for the American worker. As a son of a lifelong union member, I'm here to tell you that they are most definitely a good thing, at least in my Dad's life, and in my life when I was younger, and living at home. They protected his job, his friends' jobs, and got them livable wages in a small town in Maine.
And if Beck likes his 40 hour per week job who does he have to thank? Unions. No kids sweating it out making products on the cheap who do we have to thank? Yes, unions. Healthcare through your employers? Unions. The list can go on and on. Do I think that sometimes there are problems with unions? Yes, sometimes, but for the most part, they are doing good work and are protecting the American worker.
I'm always amazed at the hatred directed at organized labour. And since I wasn't clear on who Walter Philip Reuther was, I checked that liberal swamp known as wiki and found some things like...
Reuther led several strikes and in 1937 and 1940 was hospitalized after being badly beaten by strike-breakers. He also survived two assassination attempts, and his right hand was permanently crippled in an attack on April 20th, 1948.
And
After Pearl Harbor, Reuther strongly supported the war effort and refused to tolerate wildcat strikes that might disrupt munitions production. He worked for the War Manpower Commission, the Office of Production Management, and the War Production Board.
Yep, sounds like very bad man indeed...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reuther
"Do I think that sometimes there are problems with unions? Yes, sometimes"
I only wish I could find the hard numbers, but I've heard that the number of ULP complaints against employers absolutely trounces that of complaints against unions by an enormous ratio.
Exactly. I am not going to say that Unions don't have their issues, of course, some do, but compared to what corporations do to the workers, they're far less, far far less, no doubt.
When I was growing up there was a picture in my dad's office of his mother and some friends on a bicycle outing when they were young. My dad once pointed to a young man in the picture, wearing a "skimmer," and said, "That guy worked next to your grandfather splicing cables for Ma Bell for 35 years. One Friday they told him not to come back to work Monday, that he was through." I became a union man before I became a man.
What the right fears about unions is the same thing that the Boston Brahmins used to fear about the Irish immigrants: the power of numbers and democracy.
The last strike that my father was involved in, in about 1987, they walked off the job, and were picketing a few days later, on public property. A bus load of hired "security" guards pulled into the parking lot where they were picketing, and out they came with billy clubs and the 4-D cell maglites. The "guards" were there to "protect" people who wanted to come into the paper mill, and take the union jobs. Except, here's the thing, there were no people there to take the jobs. These guys were looking for a confrontation. Things being as they were, there was lots of yelling back and forth, and a union member got into one of the faces of the goons, he didn't touch him though, just lots of loud yelling, and then this one guy got jumped by about 5 guys, more guys got jumped, and at the end of the scuffle, there were 10-15 union members on the ground bleeding from the head from being smacked with clubs and flashlights. Strangely enough, not a single "guard" was injured. Imagine that eh?
And that wasn't that long ago..
"I became a union man before I became a man."
I like that phrase. It applies to just about everyone I grew up with. We were taught labor history at home, in grade school and in high school. After graduation we all became union men.
I was really surprised as I got older that it wasn't being even being discussed anymore let alone taught.
I'd really like to know how many of these talking heads, who preach the evils of organized labor, had a pretty good life growing up because they were sons or daughters of union men.
Same here. Same here.
Beautiful memories and essential tales. I hear Pete Seeger tuning his guitar in every story.
somewhere woody is playing a guitar on which is printed 'this machine kills fascists'. Pete Seeger's brother died in the same earth fighting pre-fascists in WWI. Writing poetry in the trenches. Glen Beck? Who's he?
standing tall and proud. injury retired. Sailors Union of the Pacific.
of course the oil companies would take care of us who sail tankers just fine with the out union.
except when they don't.
free jack tar.
sorry to go on, but this just hits a nerve.
This guy is a reformed "DRUNK"! Why would anybody take him seriously....I know he probably does not have a degree...He was either high or drunk during those years!