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 U.S.
labor law favors employers for two reasons: firstly, the best
parts of the National Labor Relations Act were negated by
the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) and the Landrum-Griffin Act (1959),
and secondly because what laws that do exist to protect workers
are so poorly enforced as to be useless. (Of the three presidential
candidates this year, only Ralph Nader of the Green Party
has had the courage to call for repeal of Taft-Hartley.)
BUT, we do have some rights:
The National Labor Relations Act says:
Section 7: "Employees shall have the right to self-organization,
to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representation of their own choosing, and to engage
in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective
bargaining..."
Section 8 (a): "It shall be an unfair labor practice
for an employer ... to interfere with, restrain, or coerce
employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section
7..."
Read the full text
of the NLRA.
Your Legal Rights
Under Section 7 of the NLRA you have the legal right to:
- Attend meetings to discuss joining a union;
- Read, distribute, and discuss union literature (in non-work
areas during non-work time i.e. during lunch breaks);
- Wear union buttons, T-shirts, stickers, hats, or other
items on the job;
- Sign a card asking your employer to recognize and bargain
with the union;
- Sign petitions or file grievances related to wages, hours,
working conditions, and other job issues;
- Ask other employees to support the union, to sign union
cards or petitions, or to file grievances.
After your union's election victory is officially certified
by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), you employer
is legally required to negotiate in "good faith"
with the union on a written contract covering wages, hours,
and other working conditions.
Beware the Employer
Although you have the legal protections listed above, that
doesn't mean that the employer is going to respect them. Therefore,
watch out for the following illegal activities on the part
of your employer.
Under Section 8 of the NLRA, an employer cannot:
- Threaten to or actually fire, lay off, discipline, harass,
transfer, or reassign employees because they support the
union;
- Favor employees who don't support the union over those
who do in promotions, job assignments, wages, hours, or
other working conditions;
- Threaten to, or actually shut down the worksite or take
away any benefits or privileges employees already enjoy
to discourage union activity;
- Promise employees a pay increase, promotion, or special
favors if they oppose the union.
Each of the behaviors listed above is grounds for filing
and Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the employer.
[ Introduction
| Know Your Rights | Resources/links
]
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