WASHINGTON, D.C. — It is a tragic commentary on our nation that a corporate scofflaw such as Overnite Transportation can get away with years of unrelenting intimidation of its workers and manipulation of the courts. These working men and women only wanted to have a say on the job by exercising the right to organize that is supposed to be theirs. Instead, they had to endure not only the abuses of their employer, but also the failure of our labor laws to protect them.
And when the workers turned to the National Labor Relations Board, they found that the Bush administration had appointed Chamber of Commerce and management lawyers to control it.
As long as business special interests call the plays for the White House, federal agencies and Congress, no worker can rely upon our government for fairness. That’s an outrage, and it’s why working families are working hard to elect pro-working family candidates on November 5th.
For more than eight years, the American labor movement has supported the courageous working men and women at Overnite in their struggle to gain a voice at work. Although the unfair labor practices strike has ended, our commitment to them and their cause endures.