Temporary Workers Lose Union Rights Temporary workers have no right to join the same bargaining unit as permanent employees, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled. In a decision issued Nov. 26, the board said temps or contract workers who are supplied by an outside staffing company “are jointly employed by the user employer and a supplier employer,” so they do not have the same bargaining rights as permanent employees of the company where they work. It said the two groups may not bargain together without the employer’s consent. The board split along party lines, with three Bush appointees in favor and two Clinton appointees against. The vote reversed a 2000 decision, handed down when Clinton appointees were in the majority. In the new case, the majority said, “[T]he entity that the two groups of employees look to as their employer is not the same. No amount of legal legerdemain can alter this fact.” The dissenting members said the majority showed a “disturbing reluctance to recognize changes in the economy and the workplace and to ensure that our law reflects economic realities and continues to further the goals that Congress has set.” They characterized the decision as “at worst accelerating the expansion of a permanent underclass of workers” The Labor Department estimates there are about 2.5 million temporary workers. The case is Oakwood Care Center and N&W Agency, Inc., 343 NLRB No. 76. The decision is posted at www.nlrb.gov.