Lori Gay cannot join a union: "I am in charge of the pencil," she laments.  Lori is a registered nurse at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, where she estimates she spends about 10 minutes a day filling out an assignment sheet for the next shift of nurses.  But that's enough for her employer to say that she is a "supervisor," which makes her ineligible to join a union.

Lori is not alone.  She is one of potentially millions of workers whose right to join a union was stripped away last year in a court decision granting companies leeway to reclassify workers with even minimal supervisory duties as "supervisors."

Thankfully, there's a bill in Congress that will stop this 'supervisor scam.'   Please write to your members of Congress now and ask them to co-sponsor the RESPECT Act:

http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/respect_act

Under U.S. labor law, "supervisors" are not allowed to join unions. So reclassifying workers is a quick and easy way for companies to stop union organizing drives.  It's also a cheap trick: this 'title change' does NOT come with a raise or more responsibilities.

With this policy, the Bush-appointed majority of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has robbed workers in nearly every industry of their right to form or join a union.  Nurses, quality control inspectors, and retail employees are just some of the potentially millions affected who need unions to secure better working conditions.

It's disheartening that the very agency that is supposed to protect a worker's basic right to form a union took away those rights.  Only Congress has the power to restore them.

Please write to your members of Congress now!

The RESPECT Act (H.R. 1644 and S. 969) corrects the NLRB's flawed decision by clarifying the meaning of the term "supervisor." Only Congress can close this loophole to protect workers.

Workers like Lori deserve protection under the law and a say in their working conditions.  Please write to your Representative and Senators now and ask them to give workers a little respect and restore their rights!

http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/respect_act

Thanks for all that you do for workers' rights.

Liz Cattaneo
American Rights at Work
www.americanrightsatwork.org