Labor Unions/Strikes
| Author | Jeffrey Wilson |
| Pages | 1101-1106 |
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Congress in 1935 passed the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), which was the first of the three federal laws that govern labor relations in the United States. The other two laws, passed in 1947 and 1959, respectively, were the Taft-Hartley Act and the Landrum-Griffin Act. These statutes guarantee the right of private employees to form and join unions in order to bargain collectively. The vast majority of states have extended union rights to public employees.
Additional federal statutes affect the labor rights of employees. A summary of the major federal labor statutes is as follows:
The Norris-LaGuardia Anti-Injunction Act, passed in 1932, restricted federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes except in some very limited conditions.
The Wagner Act in 1935 set forth many of the basic protections offered under the labor statutes, including the restriction against employers interfering with or otherwise restraining the ability of employees to organize to bargain collectively.
The Brynes Anti-Strikebreaking Act of 1938 restricted the interstate transportation of anyone being used to interfere with peaceful picketing in the process of collective bargaining or labor dispute.
The Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act of 1946 prevented unions from extorting money from nonunion employees.
The Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 brought a balance between the rights of employees and employers, which was believed to favor employees and unions over employers. Among the provisions included restrictions on unfair labor practices by unions.
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure of 1959, or Landrum-Griffin Act, established a code of conduct for unions and
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contained significant amendments to the Taft-Hartley Act. The code of conduct guaranteed certain rights to union members, which was necessary after findings of wrongdoing by unions and their officers. The amendments to the Taft-Hartley Act added some rights to unions and union members but also placed restrictions on union strikes, picketing, and boycotts.
The National Labor Relations Act employs a broad definition of "employee." The term includes anyone currently on a company's payroll and anyone whose employment has ceased due to a current strike or unfair labor practice and who has not obtained regular employment elsewhere. Several classes of workers are specifically exempted from this definition, including the following:
Agricultural laborers
Persons employed in a family's or persons' domestic service in the home
Persons employed by a spouse or parent
Independent contractors
Persons employed by businesses subject to the Railway Labor Act
Supervisors
The inclusion of supervisory employees on this list is most significant, because supervisors are not protected if they choose to participate in union activity. In some very limited circumstances, however, a supervisor may be protected from termination, if an employer terminates a supervisor to intimidate other employees from exercising their rights.
The NLRA's definition of "employer" includes any employer that affects interstate commerce. "Affecting interstate commerce" is traditionally a very broad term, and the vast majority of employers fall within this definition. The NLRA excludes several groups of employers from its scope, including the following:
The Federal Government
Any wholly owned government corporation or federal reserve bank
Any state government or political division of a state
Employers subject to the Railway Labor Act
Labor organizations, with some exceptions
Much of the NLRA focuses on the relationship between the employees joining together to bargain collectively and the election of the union that acquires the right to represent these employees through a vote of the employees.
A series of complex laws governs the labor representation process. Forming and joining a union to bargain collectively must be completed before the collective bargaining process. The process of forming a union involves numerous considerations, such as the types of employees who would constitute an appropriate bargaining unit, and the selection of the appropriate union to represent the employees.
Employees must define an appropriate collective bargaining unit or units to determine how the employees should be represented in collective bargaining. Under the NLRA and other labor statutes, only those individuals who share a sufficient "community of interest" may comprise an appropriate bargaining unit. Community of interests generally means that teachers have substantial mutual interests, including the following:
Wages or compensation
Hours of work
Employment benefits
Supervision
Qualifications
Training and skills
Job functions
Contact with other employees
Integration of work functions with other employees
History of collective bargaining
Many state statutes set forth requirements or considerations with respect to determinations of bargaining units in the public sector. Moreover, some statutes set forth specific bargaining units.
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The NLRA provides formal processes for designation and recognition of bargaining units. State statutes include similar provisions. When disputes arise with respect to union representation, many...
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