The future of the National Labor Relations Board in jeopardy?
There are 4 seats on the National Labor Relations Board that President Bush will soon fill, including the new chairman. He is currently considering J. Robert Brame as the new Chairman.
Who is J. Robert Brame?
Brame is one of five board members of American Vision, an group that states on its website, www.americanvision.org, that "American Vision is dedicated to the restoration of America's Biblical foundation." American Vision publishes a newsletter titled Biblical Worldview that is revealing as to the organization's views regarding homosexuals, modern scholarship, choice and even calls into question the value of democracy.
Views On Homosexuality
"Homosexuals are masters of diversion and deception. They hide the realities of their perverse lifestyle by calling themselves 'gay.' ... [H]omosexuals will continue to push their agenda and seduce young boys and girls. Friends this is a reality. They need our children to perpetuate their 'alternative lifestyle.'"
- "Jerry Falwell is Making a Big Mistake," Biblical Worldview, December 1999.
"[I]n the matter of homosexuality. God defines it as a sin worthy of death. But from step one in the Public Square 'debate.' God's 'opinion' may not be offered, except to be ridiculed."
- "Next Stop Pedophilia," Biblical Worldview, October 2000.
Views On Choice
"In the public debate on abortion God has been bypassed as having no legitimate public interest in the matter.... The terms of debate are determinative of outcome. Control the terms and you control the result. Thus abortion is said not to be a controversy about a definition of life, it is only about a definition of rights, and about the rights of just one party. Abortion in America is not debated in terms of a baby's right to live without being executed by her mother, but only in terms of a woman's right to control her body. When pro-life advocates brought a large, bottled fetus into the streets years ago, one could have reasonably expected that the stunning evidentiary value of the display might alter terms of debate. No. The terms formed the original battlefield and that field had long been taken by the enemy."
- "Next Stop Pedophilia," Biblical Worldview, October 2000.
Views On Gender Scholarship
"The college experience has been feminized. In years past, (mostly) men went to college to gain the knowledge and skills to increase their chances for better jobs, where now they are subjected to forms of social engineering rather than chemical, electrical, and civil. The hard sciences have been replaced by soft and squishy "social sciences." Feminist themes now predominate. Gender studies and gender-specific majors have been created to appease feminist radicals as a cover for leftist ideologies. And while men usually don't major in gender studies, they are subjected to the feminist/gender-bending worldview in the social science classes that make up the core curriculum. They are compelled to listen to propaganda masquerading as scholarship."
- "The Feminization of American Life," Biblical Worldview, June 2000.
Views On Democratic Principles
"'[N]ationalism of democracy' gave us 'fascism and communism.' Democracy is often the first step toward fascism, because it is used by tyrannts (sic) to disestablish political freedom in the name of political freedom. 'According to L. Edgar Hoover, astute director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation: "The Red Fascists have long followed the practice of making full use of democratic liberties: elections, lawful agitation, and propaganda, and free speech, press, assembly. Their basic premise: Reap every advantage possible.' Opponents of freedom love the democratic process. Today's America is a perfect example of the way democracy is being used to subvert the Constitution and turning this once great nation into a burgeoning socialist 'paradise.'"
- "The Tyranny of Democracy," Biblical Worldview, August 2000.
What Can We Expect From Brame If He is Allowed to Set Labor Policy?
We already have a very good idea. Brame served as an NLRB Board Member in a package deal forced on Clinton by the Republicans controlling the Senate from 1997 to 2000. During his tenure as a Board Member, Brame drafted dissenting opinions advocating the overturning of well-settled National Labor Policy, usually under the guise of employer free speech. As Chairman of the NLRB, Brame will be writing majority opinions.
Employer interrogation of workers involved in a union drive is "non-coercive." In Westwood Health Care Center, 330 NLRB No. 141 (2000), Brame found non- coercive when an employer told an employee nurse she had to choose sides, even after two union supporters had been fired, adding "[w]orkers can only be the beneficiaries of such an exchange." The nurses were organizing over unsafe staffing levels in a Minnesota Health Care facility.
Discriminatory solicitation rules and captive audience meetings are lawful. In Beverly Enterprises-Hawaii, d/b/a Hale Nani, 326 NLRB No. 37 (1998), Brame finds discriminatory standards for distributing literature valid. "[A]n employer has the right to engage in ... distribution activities and maintain at the same time a valid no-solicitation/no-distribution rule. I disagree that such discrimination amounts either to objectionable conduct or unfair labor practice conduct."
Photographing and Videotape Surveillance of Union Activities are lawful. In Randell Warehouse, 328 NLRB No. 153 (1999), Brame finds employer photographing and videotaping workers non-coercive and suggest to do so even at a union meeting may not be objectionable conduct.
Employers Can Lawfully Refuse to Bargain with Temporary Workers In M.B. Sturgis, 331 NLRB No. 173 (2000), Brame rejects the obligation of employers to bargain with workers supplied by temporary agencies, ignoring evidence of widespread exploitation of this loophole (which was closed in this case). Despite evidence that temp workers are supervised and treated remarkably akin to regularly hired workers. His dissenting opinion criticizes the majority holding because it "ease[s] union organizing" ...which "has never been recognized as a Congressional purpose underlying the [National Labor Relations] Act."
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