Chapter 42 Labor Relations Law

The right of workers to form, join, and assist labor unions is a statutorily protected right in the United States. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Federal Labor Union Statutes Norris-LaGuardia Act National Labor Relations Act Labor-Management Relations Act Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act Railway Labor Act Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 Stipulates that it is legal for employees to organize. Removes the federal courts’ power to enjoin peaceful union activity. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

National Labor Relations Act of 1935 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 Places an affirmative duty on employers to bargain and deal in good faith with unions. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 Amended the Wagner 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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 Also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act. Regulates internal union affairs and establishes the rights of union members. Requires regularly scheduled elections for union officials by secret ballot Prohibits ex-convicts and communists from holding union office Makes union officials accountable for union funds and property Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Railway Labor Act of 1926 (amended in 1934) Covers employees of railroad and airline carriers. This act permits: self-organization of employees prohibits interference with this right provides for the adjustment of grievances Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative agency created by the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act. 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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Types of Union Elections 30 percent of the employees in the bargaining unit must indicate interest in joining or forming a union. NLRB is petitioned, investigates and sets election date. Contested election Consent election Decertification election Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Union Solicitation on Company Property (continued) Inaccessibility Exception A rule that permits employees and union officials to engage in union solicitation on company property if the employees are beyond reach of reasonable union efforts to communicate with them. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988 Covers employers with 100 or more employees. Requires employers to give their employees 60 days’ notice before engaging in certain plant closings or layoffs. If the employees are represented by a union, the notice must be given to the union. If they are not, the notice must be given to the employees individually. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Subjects of Collective Bargaining Compulsory Subjects Wages Hours Other terms and conditions of employment Illegal Subjects Closed shops Discrimination Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Subjects of Collective Bargaining (continued) Permissive Subjects Size and composition of the supervisory force Location of plants Corporate reorganizations Any other subjects that are not compulsory or illegal Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Union Security Agreements (continued) Agency Shop Employees do not have to become union members. They do have to pay an agency fee (an amount equal to union dues) to the union. Agency shops are lawful. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Check-Off Provision Upon proper notification by the union, union shop and agency shop employers are required to: Deduct union dues and agency fees from employees’ wages, and Forward these dues to the union. This is called a check-off provision. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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 even though a union has been elected by other employees. 21 states have enacted right-to-work laws. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Employer Lockout Act of the employer to prevent employees from entering the work premises when the employer reasonably anticipates a strike. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Crossover Worker Individual members of a union do not have to honor the strike. They may: Choose not to strike, or Return to work after joining the strikers for a time Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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 Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

Picketing (continued) Picketing is lawful unless it It is accompanied by violence Obstructs customers from entering the employer’s place of business Prevents non-striking employees from entering the employer’s premises Prevents pickups and deliveries at the employer’s place of business Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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. Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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 Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.

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 Copyright © 2004 by Prentice-Hall. All rights reserved.