[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 12, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 12, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT AND RAILWAY LABOR ACT AMENDMENTS


                           Motion to Proceed

  Mr. MITCHELL. Mr. President, I would like to address myself briefly 
to the subject matter of this legislation.
  Mr. President, once again the Senate has the opportunity to act on 
legislation of critical importance to the working men and women of this 
country.
  The Senate is considering S. 55, the Workplace Fairness Act. This 
legislation is supported by a majority of Senators. Let me repeat that, 
a majority of Senators supports this legislation, but the Senate will 
not be able to vote on the legislation because, under the Senate rules, 
a minority of Senators can prevent the Senate from voting on a bill. 
Indeed, in this case, the minority is preventing the Senate from even 
considering the bill.
  This legislation would codify the broad-based belief in this country 
that working people should not lose their jobs when they exercise their 
right to strike.

  The arguments for and against S. 55 are well known and have been 
exhaustively discussed. But the analytical discussion of this 
legislation hides the real human cost of permanent replacement of 
striking workers.
  My interest in this issue was heightened in 1988, from the dispute 
between the International Paper Co., and the United Paperworkers 
International Union, and the Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers in my 
own State of Maine. Although this strike ended 5 years ago, the impact 
on the community of Jay, ME, has been long lasting. Deep scars remain 
in this town of 5,000 people.
  The hiring of permanent replacements to the striking workers at 
International Paper Co., soon after the 1987 strike began, was a 
principal obstacle to settlement of the strike. It also is a lasting 
reminder of the divisive and bitter struggle in that town. To date, 
only 300 of the 1,270 workers who chose to exercise their right to 
strike in 1987 have been reinstated at the mill.
  There has been a lot of information collected about the use and 
impact of the use of permanent replacement workers during a strike. In 
1990, the U.S. General Accounting Office released its report on the 
``Trends in the Number of Strikes and Use of Permanent Strike 
Replacements in the 1980's.'' GAO looked at all strikes in the years 
1985 and 1989. GAO found that in 17 percent of these strikes, permanent 
striker replacements were actually hired. In addition, GAO found that 
in about one-third of these strikes, employers announced that they 
would use permanent replacement workers during labor disputes. 
Therefore, in a significant number of labor disputes, striking workers 
were faced with actual or threatened replacement for exercising their 
right to strike.
  Since 1992, a number of additional studies have been done on the 
impact of the use of permanent replacement workers. One study concluded 
that the average strike duration was seven times longer for strikes in 
which permanent replacements were used than for strikes in the United 
States in general.
  But even these facts and figures do not show fully the devastating 
effects on communities of divisive labor disputes where strikers are 
permanently replaced or the threat of permanent replacement looms. In 
his testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor on March 12, 
1990, Mr. Charles Noonan, town manager of Jay, ME, provided the most 
compelling description of the impact of permanent replacements in a 
labor dispute:

       Although the economic effect of permanent replacements on a 
     community is devastating, perhaps the greatest and long term 
     impact is in the area of family and social well being. A 
     strike divides a town; however, in a small town where the 
     positions of labor and management are often distributed 
     within the same family, the injection of permanent 
     replacements and the corresponding loss of jobs deepens this 
     division and makes the division permanent. * * * Although the 
     strike has ended over two years ago, in most cases these 
     divisions still exist. * * * For those union members who 
     choose to resign the union and return to work and for 
     supervisors who continued to operate the mill their lives 
     were also severely disrupted. Social interactions and 
     lifetime friendships were ended. * * * What Jay once was, a 
     proud, caring community is now a divided, closed society 
     which judges each individual on the basis of which side you 
     may have taken in this labor dispute.

  There is now sufficient factual data to show that the increased use 
of permanent replacement as a threat to workers has shifted the 
delicate balance in labor disputes. It also is clear that the impact of 
hiring permanent replacements can be devastating.
  I am an original cosponsor of S. 55 in this Congress. I believe it is 
important legislation, and I believe that we must act now to restore to 
working people in this country their right to strike without losing 
their jobs.
  I urge my colleagues to allow the Senate to vote on this legislation 
by voting to end the filibuster on this bill.

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