04 15 2015 Chapter 15 Continued Norris Laguardy Act passed in 1932 first labor act passed Depression conditions were ripe for employers to The act made it clear that employees were allowed to form unions Prevented employers from going to court and getting an injunction to stop their employees from striking Wagner Act 1935 economic times are still rough Ensured workers the right to self organized reemphasized Norris Created the National Labor Relations Board we will disucss this in Laguardy Act more detail later Taft Hartley Act 1947 started to shift a little bit of the power back from the employees to employers prohibited union from refusing to bargain in good faith with employers If they refuse they re subject to certain penalties Prohibited unions from carrying out secondary boycotts o A primary boycott is one in which employees strike who they work for This is legal even still today o Secondary boycotts are when employees of company A boycott company B not legal because they don t work for that company If they do this they can be fined Featherbetting is illegal this is making employers pay for work not performed paying for fake employees on the payroll overtime work that nobody actually did Made it illegal for employees to strike during a 30 day cooling off period o First 30 days after collective bargaining period expires we will discuss this more lately both parties are obligated to act in good faith Landram Griffin Act part of National Labor Act 1939 Designed to ensure that union members were protected from union leaders o Things like improper use of union funds like political actions and lobbying for against certain politicians or using them for personal use rather than helping the union members National Labor Relations Board interstate commerce Has jurisdiction over all employee employer disputes that affect o One exception airline and railroad employees are covered by a Railway Labor Act very similar to National Labor Relations Act just specific to railway and airlines Made up of 5 labor experts Unions and employees can complain about unfair labor practices o Employers are prohibited from Threatening that employees will lose job or benefits if they join a union Threatening to close a plant if employees vote for union Promising benefits to employees if they don t support the union union Giving employees worse assignments if they support a o Unions are prohibited from Threatening employees with a loss of a job if they don t Refusing to employees with grievances if they didn t support the union support the union Getting your employees to strike over issues that are unrelated to the employee employer relationship o If there is no evidence to support an unfair labor practice they ll dismiss the case o If employers are found to be conducting unfair labor practices the board can issue a cease and desist o If employees are wrongly terminated the board can provide backpay for them o Have the authority to reinstate employment common in labor disputes rare everywhere else o Order employer to bargain with union o Make unions post about what unfair labor practices are so o If union is found to be conducting unfair labor practices people are aware boards can Issue fines penalties economic sanctions cease and desist and in rare cases can decertify the union as the representative for those employees Union has to collect authorization cards signed by at least 30 of the employees in the company If this happens a campaign happens where union makes its case for why the employees need it and the employer makes their case for why they don t need a union No unfair threats can be made by either party If a union is elected it s certified by the National Labor Relations Board Then employees must decide if it wants to become a member of the union Members must paid union dues which should be used for administrative costs and support the members They should not use this for political agendas or personal use o People who don t want to be a member are obligated pay either agency fees or union fees which are slightly less than union dues If a state passes a right to work law then it means the union can t force any non member to pay any fees or dues to the union 25 states including SC are right to work states Collective Bargaining the process by which the union and the employer negotiate They have a duty to bargain in good faith Federal law says there are certain subjects that have to be part of this process and there are another number of subjects that are optional Mandatory pay rate overtime pay vacation time seniority rights grievance procedure how people file a complaint arbitration procedure settling it internally strike clauses and restrictions drug testing There has to be an agreement reached The biggest leverage the employers have in bargaining is locking the employees out shutting the plant down until an agreement is reached This cuts down the employer s income but employees aren t getting paid and that s usually worse on employees They can also bring in replacement workers who aren t part of the union to work Union members can also say we re going to stop working primary boycott in the hopes that it shuts the business down It needs to be a peaceful strike Violence usually happens when replacement workers come in Violent strikes or strikes that disturb the peace aren t protected under labor law Over the years unions have gotten higher wages for employees they have higher bargaining power than individuals Still a lot of unions in the US Outside of the US unions haven t been as aggressive in developed countries In underdeveloped countries unions are very rare People don t have the money for this Case Questions 3 Bus driver Because public safety was an issue and the possibility of drug tests and dismissal was in the policy so the bus driver had no case 4 Boeing normally to have an intentional tort you have to prove state of mind Court said it is intentional because Boeing was put on notice about it 3 4 years ago and took no action Their inaction mean to the court that Boeing intended to put their employees at risk The lawsuit went forward against Boeing 9 question was is there an obligation by employer to hire back former union employees or can they keep the replacement workers Board said no because it wasn t in the collective bargaining agreement 04 15 2015 04 15 2015