LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT, 1947

(TAFT-HARTLEY)*

As amended by Public Law 86-257, 1959

Summary and Description

Act of July 5, 1935, as amended, 29 U.S.C. 141 et seq.

The National Labor Relations Act guarantees the right of workers to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers, or to refrain from all such activity. To enable employees to exercise these rights and to prevent labor disputes which may impede interstate commerce, the Act places certain limits on activities of employers and labor organizations.

The Act generally applies to all employers engaged in interstate commerce. It does not apply to railroads and airlines which are covered by the Railway Labor Act.

The policy of the Act is to prevent obstacles to the free flow of interstate commerce by encouraging collective bargaining and by protecting workers in their right to organize and in their selection of a bargaining representative; and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes.

Administration of the law rests primarily with the National Labor Relations Board, which has two principal functions under the Act: (1) to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices whether by labor organizations or by employers, and (2) to conduct secret ballot elections in which employees decide whether unions will represent them in collective bargaining.

Members of the Board are appointed by the President, with consent of the Senate, for terms of 5 years. The term of one board member expires each year. The General Counsel is appointed by the President, with consent of the Senate, for a term of 4 years. Headquarters of the Board and the General Counsel are in Washington, D.C.

BRINGING CASES BEFORE THE NLRB

The NLRB can act only when it is formally requested to do so. Individuals, employers, or unions may initiate cases by filing charges of unfair labor practices or petitions for employee representation elec

Section 201 (d) and (e) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 which repealed Section 9(f), (g), and (h) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, and Section 505 amending Section 302(a), (b), and (c) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, took effect upon enactment of Public Law 86-257, September 14, 1959. As to the other amendments of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, Section 707 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act provides:

"The amendments made by this title shall take effect sixty days after the date of the enactment of this Act and no provision of this title shall be deemed to make an unfair labor practice, any act which is performed prior to such effective date which did not constitute an unfair labor practice prior thereto."

tions with the NLRB field offices serving the area where the case arises. These offices are located in various cities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

WHEN TO FILE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE CHARGES

Unfair labor practice charges should be filed with the Board's regional offices within 6 months from the date or dates of the alleged unfair activity. The Act does not permit the NLRB General Counsel to issue a complaint based on charges filed more than 6 months after the alleged unfair practices. This prohibition is found in section 10(b) of the Act, which states:

no complaint shall issue based upon any unfair labor practice occurring more than six months prior to the filing of the charge with the Board and the service of a copy thereof upon the person against whom such charge is made, unless the person aggrieved thereby was prevented from filing such charge by reason of service in the armed forces, in which event the six-month period shall be computed from the day of his discharge. . . .

ELECTION CASES

Under congressional authorization in the 1959 amendments to the Act, the five-member Board has delegated to its regional directors the authority to make decisions in employee representation cases. The delegation allows the NLRB regional directors to determine appropriateness of employee bargaining units, to conduct hearings in representation cases, and to direct that employee elections be held, as well as to conduct them. Actions by the regional directors are subject to review by the Board on restricted grounds.

EMPLOYEES NOT COVERED BY THE ACT

The Act does not apply to employees in a business or industry where a labor dispute would not affect interstate commerce. In addition, the Act specifically states that it does not apply to the following:

1. Employees of an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act. 2. Agricultural laborers, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (Wage-Hour Law).

3. Domestic servants.

4. Any individual employed by his parent or spouse.

5. Government employees, including those of Government corporations or the Federal Reserve Bank, or any political subdivision such as a State or school district.

6. Employees of hospitals operated entirely on a nonprofit basis. 7. Independent contractors.

Supervisors also are excluded from the definition of employees covered by the Act. Whether or not a person is a supervisor is determined by his authority rather than his title. The authority required to exclude an employee from coverage of the Act as a supervisor is defined in section 2(11) of the Act, which states:

The term "supervisor" means any individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other em

ployees, or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIES IN WHICH THE BOARD TAKES CASES

The Board, as a matter of policy, does not take cases in all businesses or industries which affect interstate commerce within the meaning of the Act. Prior to the 1959 amendments of the Act, the Board adopted jurisdictional standards for the acceptance of cases, and Congress in the 1959 amendments added a pertinent provision to the statute, section 14(c).

Section 14 (c) provides:

(1) The Board, in its discretion, may, by rule of decision or by published rules adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, decline to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute involving any class or category of employers, where, in the opinion of the Board, the effect of such labor dispute on commerce is not sufficiently substantial to warrant the exercise of its jurisdiction: Provided, That the Board shall not decline to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute over which it would assert jurisdiction under the standards prevailing upon August 1, 1959.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prevent or bar any agency or the courts of any State or Territory (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands), from assuming and asserting jurisdiction over labor disputes over which the Board declines, pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, to assert jurisdiction.

THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES

The rights guaranteed employees who are covered by the law are found in section 7 of the Act. This section states:

Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in section 8(a)(3).

In addition to the usual employee activities of organizing and supporting a union, the Board has found protected concerted activities to include the circulation of a petition asking for a wage increase and meetings of employees to draft a letter of complaint to management. In order to protect employees in the exercise of these rights, the Act gives the Board authority to

1. Remedy or prevent unfair labor practices of either employers or labor organizations (section 10).

2. Conduct elections to determine whether or not employees wish to have a representative bargain for them as a group (section

9).

3. Conduct polls to determine whether or not employees who have been under a union-shop agreement want to revoke the authority of their bargaining agent to make such agreements (section 9).

The right of employees to strike, except as specifically modified by the Act, is preserved (section 13). However, the Board and the Courts have ruled that "sitdown" strikes are not activities protected by the law because they involve the unlawful seizure of property. The Board has held also that the law does not protect slowdowns by employees who remain on the job, or partial strikes, such as a refusal to work on a certain day each week. When the applicable contract between the employer and the employees' bargaining representative contains a nostrike provision walkouts for economic reasons are not protected but walkouts because of employer unfair labor practices are.

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES OF EMPLOYERS

An employer as defined in the law includes "any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly or indirectly."

Employers are forbidden by the law to engage in six general types of unfair labor practices.

1. Interference, restraint, or coercion

It is a violation of section 8(a) (1) for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed by section 7.

Examples of such illegal conduct:

• Threatening employees with loss of jobs or benefits if they should join a union.

• Threatening to close down a plant if a union should be organized in it.

Questioning employees about their union activities or membership in such circumstances as will tend to restrain or coerce the employees.

Spying on union gatherings.

• Granting wage increases deliberately timed to defeat self-organization among employees.

2. Illegal assistance or domination of a labor organization

An employer violates the law if he dominates or interferes with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contributes financial or other support to it.

Examples of conduct illegal under this section:

An employer taking an active part in organizing a union or a committee to represent employees.

An employer bringing pressure upon employees to join a union. • An employer playing favorites to one or two or more unions which are competing to represent employees.

In remedying such unfair practices, the Board distinguishes between "domination" of a labor organization and conduct which amounts to no more than illegal interference. When a union is found to be dominated by an employer, the Board will order the organization completely disestablished as a representative of employees. But, if the

organization is found only to have been supported by employer assistance amounting to less than domination, the Board usually orders the employer to stop such support and to withhold recognition from the organization until it has been certified by the Board as a bona fide representative of employees.

3. Discrimination in employment for union activities

Section 8(a) (3) forbids an employer to discriminate against employees "in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization." Violation of this provision of the law-discharge or other employment discrimination for union activity or other protected group activity-is the most common unfair labor practice.

This provision, together with section 8(b) (2), prohibits the "closed shop," in which only persons who are already members of a labor organization may be hired. It also prohibits discriminatory hiring hall arrangements by which only persons who have "permits" from a union may be hired.

However, a proviso to this section permits an employer and a union to agree to a union shop, in which employees may be required to join the union 30 days after they are hired. In the building and construction industry, employees may be required to join the union after 7 days. Examples of discrimination in employment forbidden by this section:

• Demoting or discharging an employee because he urged his fellow employees to join or organize a union.

Refusing to reinstate an employee (when a job for which he can qualify is open) because he took part in a lawful strike.

• Refusing to hire a qualified applicant for a job because he belongs to a union.

• Refusing to hire a qualified applicant for a job because he does not belong to a union or because he belongs to one union rather than to another union.

This section does not limit the employer's right to discharge, transfer, or lay off an employee for genuine economic reasons or for just cause such as disobedience or bad work. This applies equally to employees who are active union advocates and to those who are not. However, the fact that a lawful reason for discharge or disciplining of an employee may exist does not entitle an employer to discharge or discipline an employee when the true reason is the employee's union activities or other activities protected by the law.

In weighing an employee's charge that he has been discriminated against because of his union activity, the NLRB will want to know, among other things:

a. What reason did the company give for taking the action against the employee?

b. Did the company take the same action against other employees for the same reason?

c. Was the employee given any warnings before the company acted?

d. Did the company know that the employee was active in union matters or was a union member?

e. What is the employee's record as to length of employment, efficiency ratings, wage increases, promotions, or words of praise from his supervisor?