[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 126 (Tuesday, August 1, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H8138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1730
       NLRB CUTS AND THE CASE OF OVERNIGHT TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Metcalf). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, the debate we are having on 
the Labor HHS Appropriations bill is about people, not government 
programs. It is about the extremes to which Republicans will go to 
protect special interests.
  There is a very striking, specific example of how this bill 
sacrifices working families for the ignoble cause of catering to 
special interest. This bill punishes an independent agency on behalf of 
an unscrupulous employer, the Overnight Transportation Co.
  Let's be clear about one thing, this has nothing to do with reducing 
the budget deficit. It has everything to do with eliminating the 
independence and impartiality of the National Labor Relations Board. 
The NLRB is a judicial body. It is not supposed to respond to thinly-
veiled threats from Members of this Congress.
  But certain Members have written to the judges of the NLRB that if 
they did not decide an issue in favor of the Overnight Co., the agency 
will be targeted for severe cuts. And when the judges used their 
independent judgment, Republicans went looking for blood. The cuts in 
this bill for NLRB are severe: 30 percent, while most other agencies 
were cut only 7.5 percent.
  Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reported recently that an Overnight 
lobbyist worked closely with a Republican congressman to insure that 
NLRB be issued a dramatic cut and that its judicial procedures be tied 
up.
  This unprecedented interference by Republicans in the duties of 
judges was not on behalf of the workers. Let me repeat, Republicans are 
going to extremes not on behalf of workers, but on behalf of an 
unscrupulous employer, the Overnight Co.
  The management of Overnight, from the CEO on down, has been violating 
the rights of employees all across this Nation.
  Since 1994, Overnight has mounted an illegal national campaign to 
prevent employees from exercising their right to come together for 
better wages and working conditions. Overnight's actions have resulted 
in literally hundreds of employee complaints. These complaints include 
all of the gross violations of worker protections law: firing employee 
leaders; threatening to close facilities if employees unionize; 
withholding pay increases for employees that vote to organize, while 
granting pay increases to others; and promising better benefits if 
employees do not exercise their right to unionize.
  The people who were subject to this treatment are just like you and 
me--they have families, they are struggling to make ends meet, and they 
are trying to play by the rules. Yet, Overnight, with the support it 
seems of Republicans, is denying those people their rights.
  Obviously, Overnight believed it was above the law. Under the laws of 
this Nation, it is illegal for an employer ``to dominate or interfere 
with the formation or administration of any labor organization * * *''
  After NLRB authorized the request of an injunction against the 
flagrant violations of Overnight, Republicans sprang into action to 
prevent the injunction from actually being sought and to influence the 
settlement. But Republicans are not stopping there. They hope to exact 
punishment and revenge on a judicial body that decided cases against 
Republican special interest.
  Even some Members on the other side of the aisle were shocked by the 
catering to special interest. Republican Representative John Porter was 
quoted as saying ``To my way of thinking, you don't cut judicial bodies 
because they make decisions you don't like.''
  I could not agree with my colleague more. To my way of thinking, Mr. 
Speaker, we were not elected to disregard the interest of the people in 
favor of special interest. This bill is extreme and will hurt working 
families only to help special interests. This bill should be 
resoundingly rejected.


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