THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
ACKNOWLEDGING the tremendous gains for the rights of the worker through the provisions of the WA Labor Relations Act.
APPLAUDING these efforts for helping to ensure quality of life of each worker.
NOTING that though these efforts have been widely successful in achieving the goal of a better quality of life for workers, there is still substantial room for improvement of these rights and protections of each worker.
REMARKING the following as areas that could be improved upon:
1. In section 6, there is the declaration that governments may require notification on behalf of labor unions to employers and relevant government agencies before taking industrial action or striking. The problem with this is that it may defeat the purpose of the industrial action or strike before it begins as it gives the employers and relevant government agencies the opportunity to prepare for the economic impact that the industrial action or strike needs in order to accomplish its goals, thereby adding a hefty barrier to the capabilities of labor unions.
2. Section 7 holds three prohibiting factors to the rights and protections of the worker.
A. The fact that labor unions reserve the right to draw up their own constitutions, rules, administration, activities, and programs free of any national or international standard allows for the the problem of corruption to occur in number within labor unions.
B. The allowing of democracy to be an optional mandate within labor unions is a violation of each individuals interests within said labor unions and could easily be used against the interests of the members of labor unions for the benefit of those in power.
C. The provision for government to be able to implement a minimum percentage of members for a union to be legally recognized is a violation of these laborers rights as without legal recognition and thereby not allowing for a mechanism for authorization by a union of a strike or industrial action, according to section three, none of the rights mentioned in sections 2 and 5 will apply to the collective of workers when they preform stated strikes or industrial actions. Doubting that there must be a standard to legally recognize a labor union, as in order for a labor union to be successful in their strikes and industrial actions, a great deal of workers must be involved. This standard of judging by percentages most definitely works against the interests and rights of the worker. Especially as the not to exceed percentage for legal recognition of 50%+1 practically details a way for business to keep a half of the desires of a business’s workers quelled by “convincing” the other half of said business’s workers from joining the labor union. Keep in mind that this “convincing” could include tactics of intimidation in order to do so under current standards.
3. That sadly the resolution, as previously stated, does not prevent businesses from using tactics of intimidation in order to prevent workers from joining labor unions or to leave them. Rather, the only provision of rights afforded to individual workers, noting that the rights in section 2 and 5 apply to collectives of workers in labor unions, are the ones detailed in section nine which only forbids discrimination in specific employment practices noted as being afforded equal treatment in: hiring, work assignment, compensation, promotion, training and education, and disciplinary actions. Thereby leaving a large gap in protections from the tactics of intimidation by employers.
HOPING that all of these issues will be more adequately addressed in a future replacement resolution that continues to ensure all other rights to the worker detailed in GAR #43.
HEREBY REPEALS GAR #43, WA Labor Relations Act.
Replacement Resolution
https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=409218
GA #43 WA Labor Relations Act (original text)
