Global Rights Violations Cited in 'Kentucky River' Ruling

The International watchdog group Human Rights Watch has condemned the NLRB's "Kentucky River" ruling that allows employers to reclassify many nurses and potentially millions of other workers as supervisors and revoke their union representation rights. The decision violates the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States, as a U.N. member, "has committed itself to uphold," the group stated in a letter to the labor board.

"In the Kentucky River trilogy, the board majority turned its back on international human rights and labor rights standards and flouted U.S. obligations under international law," the letter stated. "We condemn the decision and support efforts of workers, trade unions, other human rights advocates, and allied social movements to seek legislation restoring the traditional, balanced definition of 'supervisor' under the National Labor Relations Act." 

Also this week, the AFL-CIO asked the United Nations' International Labor Organization to weigh in on the issue.

In the federation's complaint to the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the decision has "stripped millions of America's working people of a fundamental human right recognized all over the globe — the freedom to bargain collectively and have a voice on the job."

Although the ILO committee has no enforcement power, the AFL-CIO asked the body to add its "authoritative voice and moral weight in the international community" to a movement for legislation to limit supervisory status to genuine supervisors and managers.

The federation also asked the committee, based in Geneva, Switzerland, to send a delegation to the United States to investigate the effects of the NLRB's decision.