APPEALS PANEL VOIDS PENALTY FOR FIRING STRIKERS.Byline: Peter T. Kilborn The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times In a blow to the nation's labor unions, a federal appeals court Friday voided void·ed adj. Heraldry Having the central area cut out or left vacant, leaving an outline or narrow border: a voided lozenge. a presidential order intended to penalize pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. companies that effectively discharge workers who go out on strike. The decision, issued by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). Circuit, held that in issuing the order in March, President Clinton violated labor law labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. that the courts have interpreted as permitting employers to replace strikers with permanent nonunion recruits. The president's next step is an appeal to either the entire appeals court or the Supreme Court. In a statement issued while he was campaigning Friday in New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). , Clinton said, "I strongly believe that this executive order is economically sound, fair and legal, and accordingly I am instructing my Justice Department to take all appropriate steps to have this decision overturned." The presidential order applied to all businesses holding federal contracts of more than $100,000 - that is, virtually every large government contractor, from motel chains to aircraft builders. The order instructed the Labor Department to cancel contracts with companies that permanently replaced striking workers and to bar such companies from future contracts. Six plaintiffs, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest not-for-profit federation of businesses, representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations in the United States. As of 2003, the chamber was comprised of 3000 state and local chambers and 830 business associations. , sued to have the order voided. But they were rebuffed by a lower court, which held that the president had authority to establish government procurement policy and that the judiciary therefore had no standing to review Clinton's directive. That finding was overturned Friday by the appeals court's decision, which was issued by Judges Laurence Silberman, nominated to the bench by President Reagan; David Sentelle, another Reagan appointee, and A. Raymond Randolph, a nominee of President Bush. The appeals panel held that the president's right to set procurement policy did not permit what the judges found to be an effect of Clinton's order: an undermining of the National Labor Relations Act The National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes and other forms of concerted of 1935, under which, the courts have held, employers may permanently replace strikers. John Sweeney, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S. , which represents 13 million unionized workers, called the decision "simply wrong." "This ruling," Sweeney said in a statement, "serves those employers who want to wage war on workers and hurts the rest of us - working families, communities, fair employers, our nation." The plaintiffs were elated. Stephen Bokat, general counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called the decision "a total vindication of our position and a total repudiation of the president's position." The right to replace striking workers, Bokat said, "is a key economic weapon in dealing with unions and dealing with strikes." But Labor Secretary Robert Reich said there was an important broader issue involved in opposing permanent replacement. |
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