When is a nonunion really a union?
ROC insists it’s not a union, even though it walks and quacks like one, and gets funding from Service Employees International Union. And it’s not alone in functioning like a union without having to meet the regulatory obligations that fall on acknowledged labor representative groups.
Now those groups are escalating their union-like behavior under a law that’s becoming a headache for restaurateurs in New York City. The measure requires employers to deduct money automatically from workers’ paychecks at their behest and channel the funds directly to a nonprofit group of their choosing. Any organization that gets 500 workers to cite them as a beneficiary is entitled to the automatic deposits.
A group called Fast Food Justice is expected to announce Jan. 10 that it’s now receiving automatic payments of $13.50 a month from 1,200 employees of quick-service restaurants, and plans to use it to push for higher wages and more benefits. But, it insists, the group is not a union, even though it’s been on the vanguard of the push for a $15 minimum wage.
Labor advocates have said they hope the New York law will be copied by municipalities and states throughout the nation.
The National Restaurant Association and an affiliated group, the Restaurant Law Center, have filed a lawsuit that alleges the mandatory deductions violate constitutional protections against compelled speech. The groups say the law requires restaurants to support groups with which they don’t agree.