Global Policy Forum

By Julian Borger

The American "economic miracle" of the past eight years has been built partly at the expense of workers' rights, which are feebly enforced by the government and routinely violated by employers, according to a report published yesterday by Human Rights Watch.

The report says employers are taking advantage of immigrant workers, and the increasing number of part-time and contract workers produced by the new technology-driven economy, to deny employees the right to organise. Unions now represent less than 14% of the US workforce.

One of the firms singled out for criticism is the software giant Microsoft. Of the 20,000 workers at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington state, 6,000 are not directly employed by Microsoft, but by temporary employment agencies.

Many of these employees have worked for Microsoft for years and have come to be known as "perma-temps". Although they are well paid, they do not benefit from health insurance provisions, pension plans or paid holidays.

The "perma-temps" formed a union, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech), but its recruitment efforts have been hindered by Microsoft's claim that it is not the workers' legal employer. The employment agencies say they will not negotiate with the union unless it includes other agency employees, not just those at Microsoft.

"We had no way of knowing who they were or how to reach them. Besides, they had nothing to do with our problems at Microsoft," Barbara Judd, a WashTech organiser.

The report also discusses immigrant workers on US farms, who are threatened with investigation by immigration authorities and deportation if they try to set up a union. In other cases, private sector employees have been fired for attempting to form unions. Many have won court cases ordering their reinstatement and guaranteeing the right to organise, but the employers are able to prevent the rulings being enforced by appealing.

"Employers can resist union organising by dragging out legal proceedings for years," the report's author, Lance Compa, said. "Labour law is so weak that companies often treat the minor penalties as a routine cost of doing business, not a deterrent against violations."

"The cards are stacked against workers in the United States," Kenneth Roth, HRW's executive director, said. "The US government cannot effectively press another country to improve labour standards while violating them itself."

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