Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to join Senator Dodd and Senator Kennedy in introducing the Re-empowerment of Skilled Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers Act, also known as the RESPECT Act. This legislation will amend the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definition of ``supervisor.'' It is necessary because of recent rulings by the National Labor Relations Board, which has determined that millions of workers do not fall within the definition of ``supervisor.'' An employee who is deemed a ``supervisor'' under the National Labor Relations Act does not have collective bargaining rights or other labor protections. The NLRB rulings in these so-called Kentucky River cases have an enormous impact on nurses. According to the amicus brief filed by the American Nurses Association and United American Nurses, AFL-CIO, in these cases, ``[o]f the more than 2.1 million people working as registered nurses in the United States in the year 2002, 15.6 per cent were union members. Registered nurses covered by a collective bargaining agreement can earn approximately 11 per cent more per week than non-unionized nurses. . . .'' There are 800,000 nurses in this country--40,000 nurses in my home State of Illinois alone. We owe it to these nurses to find a workable definition of the term ``supervisor'' so that they and other professional employees and construction tradesworkers receive the labor protections that Congress intended.”