The AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union have again asked their political beneficiaries, Democrats who owe their positions to the unions and who want union support in the future, to pass a new piece of legislation, which they are calling the RESPECT Act. Its official term is the Re-empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers Act.
It will, in effect, change the definition of a supervisor, turning white-collar professionals into blue collar workers. It defines anyone who is both a supervisor and a worker as someone who can join a union. Under current NLRB rules, a supervisor is anyone who works one or two shifts as a supervisor and so is not eligible to join a union. Part-time supervisors could not join unions because they were part of management.
If the RESPECT Act passes, it will mean that hundreds of thousands of workers will be eligible to join unions, significantly augmenting the rolls of union membership while also adding significant sums to union coffers. It is obvious that as blue collar union membership declines, the unions will do what they can to recruit white collar workers. Congress should show respect for the NLRB and not change rules to satisfy the political demands made by unions.
