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Chapter 32Labor Law

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The right of workers to form, The right of workers to form, join, and assist labor unions is join, and assist labor unions is a statutorily protected right in a statutorily protected right in the United States.the United States.

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Federal Labor Union Statutes

Norris-LaGuardia ActNorris-LaGuardia Act

National Labor National Labor Relations ActRelations Act

Labor-Management Labor-Management Relations ActRelations Act

Labor-Management Labor-Management Reporting and Reporting and Disclosure ActDisclosure ActRailway Labor ActRailway Labor Act

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Norris-LaGuardia Act

• Stipulates that it is legal for employees to organize.

• Removes the federal courts’ power to enjoin peaceful union activity.

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National Labor Relations Act

• Also known as the Wagner Act or NLRA.

• Establishes the right of employees to:– form, join, and assist labor

organizations– bargain collectively with employers– engage in concerted activity to

promote these rights

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Labor-Management Relations Act

• Also known as the Taft-Hartley Act.

• Expands the activities that labor unions can engage in.

• Gives employers the right to engage in free-speech efforts against unions prior to a union election.

• Gives the President the right to seek an injunction against a strike that would create a national emergency.

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Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

• Also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act.

• Regulates internal union affairs and establishes the rights of union members.

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Railway Labor Act

• Covers employees of railroad and airline carriers.

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National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

• Administrative body comprised of five members appointed by the president and approved by the senate.– Oversees union elections– Prevents employers and

unions from engaging in illegal and unfair labor practices

– Enforces and interprets certain federal labor laws.

• NLRB decisions are enforceable in court.

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Organizing a Union• Section 7 of the NLRA

– Gives employees the right to join together to form a union.

• Appropriate Bargaining Unit – The group that the union is

seeking to represent.– Must be defined before the

union can petition for an election.

– Managers and professional employees may not belong to unions formed by employees whom they manage.

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Types of Union Elections• 30 percent of the employees in

the bargaining unit must indicate interest in joining or forming a union.– Not a commitment to vote for the

union

• NLRB is petitioned, investigates and sets election date.

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Union Elections (continued)

• Contested election– Management opposes the union– NLRB required to supervised– Simple majority vote wins election

• Consent election– Management does not contest– NLRB does not supervise

• Decertification election– Employees no longer want union– Supervised by NLRB

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Union Elections (continued)

• If a simple majority of the employees of the appropriate bargaining unit vote to join a union,– the union is certified as the

bargaining agent of all the employees,

– even those who did not vote for the union.

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Union Solicitation on Company Property

• An employer may restrict union solicitation activities by employees to nonworking areas during employees’ free time.

• Off-duty employees may be barred from union solicitation on company premises.

• Non-employee union organizers or officers may be prohibited from soliciting on behalf of the union anywhere on company property.

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Union Solicitation on Company Property (continued)

Inaccessibility Exception• Permits employees and union

officials to engage in union solicitation on company property – Employees must be beyond reach of

reasonable union efforts to communicate with them.

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Illegal Interference with an Election

• Section 8(a) of the NLRA – makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with, coerce, or restrain employees from exercising their statutory right to form and join a union.

• Section 8(b) of the NLRA – prohibits unions from engaging in unfair labor practices that interfere with a union election.

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Collective Bargaining• The act of negotiating contract

terms between an employer and the members of a union.

• Collective Bargaining Agreement – the resulting contract from a collective bargaining procedure.

• The employer and the union must bargain with each other in good faith.

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Subjects of Collective Bargaining

• Compulsory Subjects– Wages– Hours– Other terms and conditions of

employment• Illegal Subjects

– Closed shops– Discrimination

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Subjects of Collective Bargaining (continued)

• Permissive Subjects– Size and composition of the

supervisory force– Location of plants– Corporate reorganizations– Subjects may be bargained for

if company and union agree

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Union Security Agreements• Union Shop

– Employee must join the union within a certain number of days after being hired.

– Employees who do not join must be discharged by the employer upon notice from the union.

– Union members pay union dues to the union.

– Union shops are lawful.

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Union Security Agreements (continued)

• Agency Shop– Employees do not have to

become union members.– Must pay an agency fee to the

union.• Amount equal to union dues

– Agency shops are lawful.

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State Right-to-Work Laws• Section 14(b) of the Taft Hartley

Act – allows states to enact right-to-

work laws that outlaw union or agency shops.

– Individual employees cannot be forced to join a union or pay union dues and fees.

• Applies even though a union has been elected by other employees.

– 22 states have enacted right-to-work laws.

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Strikes• The NLRA gives union

management the right to recommend that the union call a strike if a collective bargaining agreement cannot be reached.

• A majority vote of the union’s members must agree to the action before there can be a strike.

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Picketing• The actions of strikers walking in

front of the employer’s premises carrying signs announcing their strike.

• The right to picket is implied from the NLRA.

• An employer may seek an injunction against unlawful picketing.

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Picketing (continued)

Picketing is lawful unless it1. It is accompanied by violence2. Obstructs customers from

entering the employer’s place of business

3. Prevents non-striking employees from entering the employer’s premises

4. Prevents pickups and deliveries at the employer’s place of business

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Secondary Boycott Picketing• A type of picketing where unions

try to bring pressure against an employer by picketing his or her suppliers or customers.

• Such picketing is lawful only if it is product picketing.

• It is illegal if it is directed against the neutral employer instead of the struck employer’s product.

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Illegal Strikes• Several types of strikes have

been held to be illegal.• They are not protected by

federal labor law.• Illegal strikers may be

discharged by the employer with no rights to reinstatement.

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Illegal strikes are:• Violent Strikes

• Sit-Down Strikes

• Partial or Intermittent Strikes

• Wildcat Strikes

• Strikes during the 60-day Cooling-Off Period

• Strikes in Violation of a No-Strike Clause

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Crossover Worker• Individual members of a union

do not have to honor the strike.• They may:

1. Choose not to strike, or2. Return to work after joining

the strikers for a time

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Replacement Workers• Workers who are hired to take

the place of striking workers.• They can be hired on either a

temporary or permanent basis.• If replacement workers are given

permanent status, they do not have to be dismissed when the strike is over.

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Employer LockoutEmployer Lockout

Act of the employer to prevent Act of the employer to prevent employees from entering the employees from entering the work premises when the work premises when the employer reasonably anticipates employer reasonably anticipates a strike.a strike.

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Internal Union Affairs• Unions may adopt internal union

rules to regulate the operation of the union, acquire and maintain union membership, etc.

• Title I of the Landrum-Griffin Act – referred to as labor’s bill of rights. Gives each union member equal rights and privileges to:– Nominate candidates for union office– Vote in elections– Participate in membership meetings

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Internal Union Affairs (continued)

• A union may discipline members for:– Walking off the job in a non-

sanctioned strike– Working for wages below

union scale– Spying for an employer– Any other unauthorized

activity that has an adverse economic impact on the union