In Contest to Find Worst Boss, Don't Look for the Union Label

The AFL-CIO is hosting a bad boss contest in which employees of the union can't enter.

When it comes to bad boss stories, the AFL-CIO wants to hear all about them -- hosting a contest in which the most abused worker wins a weeklong vacation. The only limitation to entering -- contestants can't be employees of the AFL-CIO.

"Employees, officers, and directors (and their immediate family members and members of the same households, whether related or not) of Working America, Union Privilege or the AFL-CIO are not eligible to participate," the AFL-CIO says at the bottom of an email and in the contest rules posted on its website.

The contest begins Wednesday and submissions can be made through July 20. The winner will be announced Aug. 2 and will receive a seven-night stay in a vacation condominium and $1,000, which can be used toward airfare and other travel expenses.

A spokeswoman with Working America told FoxNews.com that because it is a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, "the prohibition of sponsor employee participation extends to the AFL-CIO employees as well."

"Any former employee of any of these entities, however, may participate in the contest," spokeswoman Aruna Jain said in an email.

Organizations hosting contests often deny participation to staff and officers in order to avoid the perception of rigging the outcome.

But the Center for Union Facts said the AFL-CIO has such a long record of mistreating its employees that it has had more than 250 unfair labor practice complaints against it in the past three years. In an ironic twist, there have been 40 attempts to unionize labor unions in the past five years.

"Labor bosses' long history of corruption, forced dues, and political malfeasance -- including the leadership of the AFL-CIO -- makes them prime candidates for the 'Bad Bosses' contest. Clearly, the only way to ensure they don't enter the winners circle is to keep the unions' bosses out of the ring altogether," CUF Managing Director J. Justin Wilson said in a statement.

"This sort of blind hypocrisy has been robbing the labor movement of credibility for decades," he added.

In a press release, Working America says that previous contests have drawn tens of thousands of votes and millions of page views. Previous submissions included a pregnant worker whose boss had her making pizza between contractions and another whose boss prohibited employees from calling health authorities as workers stood in sewage while making food.

"We have heard the stories, but we are stunned by the extent of the problem out there," Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America, said in the release. "Some stories are funny -- at least to the reader -- but many more are painful, even tragic. They all drive home the point that workers are vulnerable, and without workplace protections have virtually no rights on the job."