The United Steelworkers (USW), through the joint efforts of its Organizing and Legal departments, has won two landmark cases before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), “ensuring the ability of workers to more freely exercise their right to organize a labor union,” the USW said on Tuesday.

“In Lamons Gasket Company, the USW successfully prevailed upon the NLRB to overrule its Bush-era case of Dana Corp. which, in contravention of 50 years of prior NLRB and court law, had made it more difficult to obtain voluntary recognition from an employer,” the USW said. “In Lamons Gasket, the NLRB has now placed the law back in conformity with the original intent of Congress in passing the National Relations Labor Act (NLRA) to promote union organizing and collective bargaining by workers.”

“In Specialty Health Care, the USW successfully prevailed upon the Board to permit unions to more freely choose the types of bargaining units they wish to organize, specifically allowing the USW to organize a certified nursing assistant (CNA)-only unit at a non-acute care nursing home facility,” the USW said.

“These cases represent monumental victories, not just for unions, but for all workers as well when they attempt to organize in support of better wages and benefits and safer working conditions,” USW International President Leo Gerard said. “These cases will now permit workers to more freely exercise their rights to organize and collectively bargain—rights enshrined not only under the National Labor Relations Act, but also under the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) core Conventions.”

The USW represents 850,000 members in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It is the largest private sector union in North America, representing workers in a wide range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, plus office, technical and service workers in health care, security, hotels and municipal governments and agencies.

Posted 8/31/2011