Eavesdrop Law

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   As variation on the recent discussion of employee e-rights,
   WSJ today:


   New eavesdropping law creates labor-management tussle in
   Illinois.

   The Illinois AFL-CIO is going to court to fight a provision
   in a bill Gov. Jim Edgar signed last month that the labor
   group says allows employers to listen in on employees'
   conversations "for virtually any reason." A spokesman for
   the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the provision's
   prime backer, says such fears are "wild speculation."

   Critics say the provision's language, allowing monitoring
   for "service quality control or for educational, training,
   or research purposes," is far too broad.

   The retail merchants association notes that employers are
   responsible for the conduct of employees who deal with
   customers over the phone.