NLRB chief defends anti-worker rulings
National Labor Relations Board Chairman Robert Battista, a Republican appointed by President George W. Bush, took the unusual step on Dec. 13 of addressing charges that the NLRB has been issuing anti-worker and pro-business decisions.

Three of the five members on the NLRB were appointed by President Bush, and organized labor and Democrats in Congress have been complaining loudly about the board's recent anti-labor decisions.

"The NLRB has shown itself again to be little more than a political tool of right-wing Republicans in their continuing assault on America's working families," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Battista said in an oral statement before the board: "First, I want to set the record straight regarding the number and timing of the decisions the Board issued in September 2007. Our critics allege that the 'Bush majority' rushed out 61 decisions in September in what they describe as a 'massive assault on workers' before the President's term ends. That is just not so."

Battista said every September, there is always a busy caseload for the NLRB - but as for the substance of the rulings, "the decisions speak for themselves," he said. He added that in the majority of unfair labor practice cases issued in September, the board found one or more violations of the National Labor Relations Act were by the employer.

That may be the case, but organized labor maintains that NLRB issued some whopper anti-worker rulings in those minority of cases.

The Republican majority on the NLRB has taken away unionization rights from a large number of American workers, especially nurses, by reclassifying them as "supervisors." The board has made it easier for employers to block back pay for workers when they fail at stopping union organizing drives.

In the most recent example, in a ruling involving Dana Corp., labor leaders were astonished that the board's conservative majority voted to require Dana to post information on how dissenting workers could decertify the UAW's recent organizing drive at the company - even though Dana didn't oppose the organizing drive.

"In allowing a small group of workers to undermine both the majority of workers' and the employer's wishes, the labor board is effectively making a mockery of the law's allowance for voluntary recognition," Sweeney said.

Michigan has healthy health care plans
One of the residual benefits of the down-but-not-out union influence on Michigan's economy is the existence of some pretty good health care plans in our state.

U.S. News and World Report placed 13 Michigan-based health care plans as top performers among 70 that were ranked nationwide. Michigan had six plans in the top 20 and 11 plans in the top 50.

Michigan-based plans that that appeared in the rankings include: M-Care (name has changed to BlueCaid of Michgan), Health Plan of Michigan, Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan, HealthPlus of Michigan, Upper Peninsula Health Plan, Priority Health, McLaren Health Plan, Total Health Care, OmniCare Health Plan, Midwest Health Plan, Molina Healthcare of Michigan, Great Lakes Health Plan, and Community Choice Michigan.

"Our residents deserve quality health care services and this ranking demonstrates that Michigan*s health plans are providing citizens with good benefits and choices," said Janet Olszewski, director of the
Michigan Department of Community Health.