For Immediate Release
Contact: Alison Omens 202-637-5018

AFL-CIO Files International Complaint on Bush Labor Board*s
Sweeping Anti-Worker Decisions
ILO Complaint Argues *Sustained Assault on Workers* Rights in the
United  States*

(Washington, Oct. 25)  Today, the AFL-CIO filed a complaint with the
International Labor Organization*s (ILO) Committee on Freedom of
Association  against the decisions issued by the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB)  over the last several years. According to the
complaint, the NLRB, now  dominated by a Bush administration majority,
has engaged in a systematic  effort to deny workers* rights in
violation of international labor  standards.

*Under Bush, America*s labor board has so failed our nation*s
workers that  we must now turn to the world*s international watchdogs
to monitor and  intervene,* said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
*The Bush Labor Board is  kryptonite for America*s workers.
There is no historic precedent for such  aggressive efforts by the Board
to curtail workers* rights of freedom of  association and collective
bargaining.* 

*Faced with a rise in unlawful employer conduct, the Board has
responded by  shrinking the NLRA*s coverage, limiting the rights
protected by the statute,  strengthening management*s prerogative to
discriminate, harass, and  intimidate and steadfastly refusing to apply
the few meaningful remedies  available under the Act,* reads the
complaint.  The Board*s decisions,  according to the complaint,
further highlight a retreat from the promises of  U.S. labor law and a
deepening crisis for America*s workers. 

The complaint highlights numerous NLRB cases over the course of several
years, including a particularly egregious set of decisions issued by
the  Board in late September.  Many of these 61 decisions continue the
erosion of  workers* rights begun in earlier years by the Bush Board.

This is not the first time the AFL-CIO has filed a complaint over the
denial  of freedom of association against the Bush Administration*s
NLRB.   Currently, there are two other cases pending before the ILO,
which challenge  the NLRB*s denial of organizing and collective
bargaining rights to workers  now classified as supervisors and to
university teaching and research  assistants.