[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             JOHNSTON ATOLL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 9, 1999

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, recently I introduced H.R. 478, 
that requires the National Labor Relations Board to assert jurisdiction 
over Johnston Atoll.
  Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory located about 800 miles 
southwest of Hawaii. Currently, the atoll is being used for weapons 
disposal where military and civilian employees work with hazardous 
materials and under potentially dangerous conditions to dispose of 
chemical weapons.
  Civilian workers presently on the island cannot seek the protection 
of safe and fair working conditions as normally provided to workers in 
the United States because the civilian workers on Johnston Atoll are 
not under the jurisdiction of the NLRB.
  This is a problem that is going on 9 years. In a petition before the 
NLRB in 1990, 185 employees of the civilian contractor were denied 
recognition as a bargaining unit by the Board because the Board 
declined to assert jurisdiction over the territory of Johnston Atoll.
  My legislation recognizes this injustice and simply states that the 
Board cannot decline to assert jurisdiction over a labor dispute which 
occurs on Johnston Atoll.
  Without my legislation, these workers are left without any recourse. 
There is no State or local agency to assist them, and the one entity 
established by Congress to protect them has declined to do so. This is 
a situation that we can easily remedy. By enacting H.R. 478, we provide 
the workers on Johnston Atoll the same protections as the rest of the 
Nation. I urge my colleagues to rectify this situation and support this 
bill.

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