Temporary workers lose bargaining rights By Amy Joyce, The Washington Post
Temporary workers will no longer be able to bargain for job benefits as part of a unit with permanent employees, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled, reversing a Clinton-era precedent.
In a 3-2 vote, the three members appointed by President Bush — Chairman Robert Battista, Peter Schaumber and Ronald Meisburg — said there is a difference between temporary and permanent workers. "Thus, the entity that the two groups of employees look to as their employer is not the same. No amount of legal legerdemain can alter that fact," their ruling stated.
The vote, issued Friday, overturned a 2000 NLRB ruling, called M.B. Sturgis, that allowed bargaining units that combined both temporary and permanent employees.