By Kevin Drawbaugh

 

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters)  Global trade unionists on Tuesday attacked what they called the U.S. export of anti-union attitudes, while congressional Democrats pledged to examine recent Bush administration labor decisions.

 

AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stuart Acuff told Reuters the meeting itself was a landmark for building awareness about the global nature of labor's challenges.

 

"Workers' freedom to bargain collectively is being attacked worldwide," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said at the forum. "Workers want to form unions," he said. "But too few ever get the chance. Corporations are sinking to new lows in the United States, thwarting workers' efforts ... The United States is exporting this lawless corporate culture."

 

Separately, congressional Democrats said they will hold a hearing on Thursday to explore recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)."The Bush majority on the NLRB has ruled on numerous cases throughout its term that have rolled back long-established workers' rights," Sen. Edward Kennedy said in a statement. He will take part in the hearing.

 

The Massachusetts Democrat also spoke at the forum. "Over the last 30 years, union membership has declined in America and working families are paying the price ... It is time to stop this global assault on labor rights," he said.

 

Union membership equaled about 12 percent of the U.S. work force in 2006, down almost steadily annually from 20 percent in 1983, according to government data.

 

Membership is down because workers are not as interested in unions as they once were, said Michael Eastman, executive director for labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobbying group and a labor foe.

 

"The unions are largely selling a product that American workers don't want," Eastman said.

He said workers have less need for unions today because, unlike decades ago, there are many laws on the books that protect their safety and health on the job. Yet, more than one-half of U.S. workers who lack a union say they would join one if they could, according to a recent union survey.

 

Union activists and supporters blame the gap between union representation and the desire for it on a steady erosion in organizing rights that is spreading abroad, as well.

 

"The corporate behavior of America is being exported and becomes the fate of workers in my country and in every country around the world," said Sharan Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation and an Australian.

 

Hoping to reverse its decline and turn back anti-union gains, the U.S. labor movement helped Democrats last year regain control of Congress and has closely aligned itself with Democrats ahead of the 2008 elections, with mixed results. An early victory was the first increase in the minimum wage in a decade, approved by Congress and signed into law in May. The House of Representatives in March passed a bill to make it easier for workers to form unions. The bill would enable workers to sign cards in favor of unionizing instead of having to vote in secret ballot elections. But Republicans in June blocked further progress of the bill in the Senate.

 

A House committee in September passed another labor bill, one that Democrats said would limit employers' power to reclassify workers as "supervisors" to deny them organizing rights. But it has not been acted on by the full House.