Knowing Your rights as a Worker

WrITTEN AND TrANSlATED BY SUMMEr SANTOS

With recent efforts in Iowa and neighboring states to weaken existing protections for workers, I decided to consult an authority on labor law in Iowa. I recently spoke with César Rosado Marzán, the Edward L. Carmody Professor of Law at the University of Iowa, and asked him some questions to help get a better picture of what Iowan workers should understand about their rights and how to fight for them.

How would you characterize the current state of labor rights in Iowa? Labor rights in Iowa, like in most of the United States, are in deep decline. Like in most “red” states, they’re even in bigger trouble in Iowa. The fact that the government wants to restore child labor in Iowa is perhaps more than good evidence of how degraded workers’ rights are in Iowa.

Gov. reynolds supports “right to work”— what does that mean, really? It means that if workers democratically choose to have a union represent them at work, that, one, the union has to legally represent all the workers in that workplace, whether they want to be union members or not, and, two, any worker in that workplace can legally opt out from paying the union service charge even when the union must represent them. In other words, right to work means that the union must represent for free anyone in a workplace where a union must represent employees. Economists call this “free riding.” My grandpa would have called it “freeloading,” and perhaps worse things.

Tres verdades sobre los sindicatos, según de profesor Rosado Marzán

1. Los sindicatos protegen tu derecho de negociar y obtienen resultados mejores que la negociación individual.

2. Los trabajadores en sindicatos reciben más dinero y beneficios mejores que los trabajadores no sindicados. La cuota vale la pena.

3. Un sindicato no es un forastero. Un sindicato es elegido y compuesto de los trabajadores y debe representar justamente todos los trabajadores de la unidad/departamento de negociación. Mas frecuentemente, los forasteros son los empleadores y los dueños de la compañía, no los sindicatos.

Three truths about unions, according to Professor Rosado Marzán

1. Unions protect your right to negotiate and obtain better outcomes than individual negotiation.

2. Unionized workers make more money and better benefits than non-union workers. The dues are worth it.

3. A union is not an outsider, but is elected by and composed of workers who must fairly represent all workers in their bargaining unit. More often, the outsiders are the bosses and company owners, not the unions.

What are the actual effects of “right to work”? Studies have shown that right to work negatively impacts union membership and union representation. It weakens unions and, because of that, unions become less attractive to most workers.

What rights are most important for Iowan workers to understand? This is a complicated question better left for a wider discussion. But if I had to choose one right, I think that the right to join a union and bargain collectively is the most important labor right of all. Democracy depends on this right. Without democracy, all workers lose.

How can Iowans best improve their workplace rights? They can do many things, from joining unions to supporting workers who want to join unions or who are on strike, to getting their churches to support any group of workers who seek help, such as when low-wage workers claim their employer failed to pay them adequately under the law.