A 2007 Univesity of Illinois at Chicago study concluded that 51 percent of employers facing a unionizing campaign try to coerce workers with bribes or "special favors" and that 30 percent of employers illegally terminate workers who are openly pro-union, according to a press release by the advocacy group American Rights at Work (ARW).
Even when Chicago employers knowingly violate labor relations and other employment laws, employees often are too intimidated to contact an Illinois employment lawyer for guidance. But some might argue that existing labor laws and regulations favor employers to the detriment of workers.
That's the thrust behind ARW's "Fix Our Jobs" campaign, which serves as both a sounding board for disgruntled workers and as a nationwide petition to Congress to pass employment laws that help employees.
The web site starts off with the rather blunt question, "Why do our jobs suck?" The organization claims that the prolonged recession has prompted employers to enforce longer hours, lower wages, less job security and unfair treatment in general.
ARW even produced a commercial playing off the CBS reality television series "Undercover Boss," in which executives go undercover as rank-and-file workers:
The 'Fix Our Jobs' web site also invites workers to submit their reasons for either hating or loving their job, which is then made available for others to read. One entry signed "WLB" claims he or she is always threatened of being denied annual leave days if quotas are not met. He or she also says that employees at his/her job rarely speak out to management for fear of retaliation.
It's unclear what impact such an online petition will have on the actions by members of Congress but several important federal labor issues are at stake, including the Employee Free Choice Act that would makes it easier for workers to unionize.
Related Resources:
- Employee Rights 101 (FindLaw)
- US Cracks Down on 'Contractors' as a Tax Dodge (The New York Times)
- Chicago Employment Lawyer Directory (FindLaw)
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