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Should temps unionize?
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December 2, 1996: 10:59 a.m. ET
U.S. NLRB may change rules to help temp workers join unions
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The U.S. National Labor Relations Board plans to hear arguments Monday and Tuesday in two cases the agency could use to make it easier for temporary workers to join unions.
NLRB Chairman William Gould IV has publicly called the existing rules outdated, saying they make it "virtually impossible" for temps to join unions.
For example, temps assigned to work at a unionized company can't join that firm's bargaining unit without consent from both the company and the temp agency.
Labor leaders charge that the rules mean unionized companies can hire temps and avoid offering workers such things as life insurance, paid holidays and paid vacations.
The issue has taken on greater significance amid the massive growth in the temporary-staffing industry.
According to the Labor Department, about 2.2 million Americans worked as temporary employees last year, up from just 417,000 in 1982.
Gould told the Wall Street Journal that the current rules help widen the economic gap among U.S. workers.
"The whole nature of the employment relationship is changing," he said.
However, business groups object to changing existing rules, and might file lawsuits to block keep current standards on the books.
Dan Yager of the Labor Policy Association told the Journal that he believes NLRB chief Gould, a Clinton administration appointee, merely wants to "rewrite labor law" to benefit unions.
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