| Home | Our Why | Our Goals | Links | Protected Activity | Benefits| Q & A | Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
"...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 157 of this title..." 29 U.S. Code § 158 Chapter 7 NLRA
According to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) "You have the right to act with co-workers to address work-related issues in many ways. Examples include: talking with one or more co-workers about your wages and benefits or other working conditions, circulating a petition asking for better hours, participating in a concerted refusal to work in unsafe conditions, openly talking about your pay and benefits, and joining with co-workers to talk directly to your employer, to a government agency, or to the media about problems in your workplace. Your employer cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten you for, or coercively question you about, this "protected concerted" activity. A single employee may also engage in protected concerted activity if he or she is acting on the authority of other employees, bringing group complaints to the employer's attention, trying to induce group action, or seeking to prepare for group action. However, you can lose protection by saying or doing something egregiously offensive or knowingly and maliciously false, or by publicly disparaging your employer's products or services without relating your complaints to any labor controversy."
Reference: Concerted Activity | National Labor Relations Board (nlrb.gov)
The law as written in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is the following: 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 158(a)(3) of this title.
Reference: 29 U.S. Code § 157 - Right of employees as to organization, collective bargaining, etc.
The RLA is another piece of legislation that governs interstate commerce. According to the RLA, "Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing." In addition to that, the RLA prohibits interference on behalf of the carrier. This applies to joining a Union as well as assisting in organizing a Union. There is also a prohibition on coercion when it relates to organizing a Union. Some examples of prohibited practices include: Surveilling employees engaged in organizing activities, prohibiting the posting or distribution of literature in non-work areas during non-work times, offering enticements (pay raises or other benefits) to convince individuals to not vote for a union, etc.
Reference: Organizing Rights under the Railway Labor Act
The RLA has some differences when compared to the NLRA. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a summary of key diffferences.
The RLA refers to "common carriers" who are engaged in interstate transport of goods. This includes Rail, Air, Trucking, and Sea carriers.
An entire craft/class within a company must be organized, without consideration for state or local boundaries.
If a "major dispute" occurs, there are additional processes that must occur. This includes a specific time frames, a cooling off period, and in the event of continued disagreement, the ability for Congress and the President of the United States to step in and provide mediation.
The RLA does not specifically list unfair labor practices like the NLRA, but does require "fair dealing" and bargaining in good faith.
The RLA offers similar rights and protections, with the caveat that interstate commerce is critical to the functioning of the country. Goods and services need to continue to flow even during labor disputes. Instead of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reviewing and mediating the process, the RLA has the National Mediation Board (NMB) which investigates grievances and applications.
Reference: Highlights of the Railway Labor Act
Unfair labor practices can be both on the part of an employer or a union. This description stems from the legislation in the NLRA. Our primary goals are to advocate and negotiate the best working conditions we can for our peers and to do so while maintaining 100% ethical practices. What this means is that we will follow the law to the best of our knowledge and follow the direction of those involved in this current informal process and who will hopefully in the future be voting members of our democratic body!
So moving on to unfair labor practices...lets review the text of the NLRA:
(a)Unfair labor practices by employer. It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer—
(1)to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 157 of this title;
(2)to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it: Provided, That subject to rules and regulations made and published by the Board pursuant to section 156 of this title, an employer shall not be prohibited from permitting employees to confer with him during working hours without loss of time or pay;
(3)by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing in this subchapter, or in any other statute of the United States, shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization (not established, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in this subsection as an unfair labor practice) to require as a condition of employment membership therein on or after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is the later,
(i) if such labor organization is the representative of the employees as provided in section 159(a) of this title, in the appropriate collective-bargaining unit covered by such agreement when made, and
(ii) unless following an election held as provided in section 159(e) of this title within one year preceding the effective date of such agreement, the Board shall have certified that at least a majority of the employees eligible to vote in such election have voted to rescind the authority of such labor organization to make such an agreement: Provided further, That no employer shall justify any discrimination against an employee for nonmembership in a labor organization (A) if he has reasonable grounds for believing that such membership was not available to the employee on the same terms and conditions generally applicable to other members, or (B) if he has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership;
(4)to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he has filed charges or given testimony under this subchapter;
(5)to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees, subject to the provisions of section 159(a) of this title.
(b)Unfair labor practices by labor organization. It shall be an unfair labor practice for a labor organization or its agents—
(1)to restrain or coerce (A) employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 157 of this title: Provided, That this paragraph shall not impair the right of a labor organization to prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or retention of membership therein; or (B) an employer in the selection of his representatives for the purposes of collective bargaining or the adjustment of grievances;
(2)to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of subsection (a)(3) or to discriminate against an employee with respect to whom membership in such organization has been denied or terminated on some ground other than his failure to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership;
(3)to refuse to bargain collectively with an employer, provided it is the representative of his employees subject to the provisions of section 159(a) of this title;
(4) (i)to engage in, or to induce or encourage any individual employed by any person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce to engage in, a strike or a refusal in the course of his employment to use, manufacture, process, transport, or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or commodities or to perform any services; or (ii) to threaten, coerce, or restrain any person engaged in commerce or in an industry affecting commerce, where in either case an object thereof is— (A)forcing or requiring any employer or self-employed person to join any labor or employer organization or to enter into any agreement which is prohibited by subsection (e); (B)forcing or requiring any person to cease using, selling, handling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in the products of any other producer, processor, or manufacturer, or to cease doing business with any other person, or forcing or requiring any other employer to recognize or bargain with a labor organization as the representative of his employees unless such labor organization has been certified as the representative of such employees under the provisions of section 159 of this title: Provided, That nothing contained in this clause (B) shall be construed to make unlawful, where not otherwise unlawful, any primary strike or primary picketing; (C)forcing or requiring any employer to recognize or bargain with a particular labor organization as the representative of his employees if another labor organization has been certified as the representative of such employees under the provisions of section 159 of this title; (D)forcing or requiring any employer to assign particular work to employees in a particular labor organization or in a particular trade, craft, or class rather than to employees in another labor organization or in another trade, craft, or class, unless such employer is failing to conform to an order or certification of the Board determining the bargaining representative for employees performing such work: Provided, That nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to make unlawful a refusal by any person to enter upon the premises of any employer (other than his own employer), if the employees of such employer are engaged in a strike ratified or approved by a representative of such employees whom such employer is required to recognize under this subchapter: Provided further, That for the purposes of this paragraph (4) only, nothing contained in such paragraph shall be construed to prohibit publicity, other than picketing, for the purpose of truthfully advising the public, including consumers and members of a labor organization, that a product or products are produced by an employer with whom the labor organization has a primary dispute and are distributed by another employer, as long as such publicity does not have an effect of inducing any individual employed by any person other than the primary employer in the course of his employment to refuse to pick up, deliver, or transport any goods, or not to perform any services, at the establishment of the employer engaged in such distribution;
(5)to require of employees covered by an agreement authorized under subsection (a)(3) the payment, as a condition precedent to becoming a member of such organization, of a fee in an amount which the Board finds excessive or discriminatory under all the circumstances. In making such a finding, the Board shall consider, among other relevant factors, the practices and customs of labor organizations in the particular industry, and the wages currently paid to the employees affected;
(6)to cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver or agree to pay or deliver any money or other thing of value, in the nature of an exaction, for services which are not performed or not to be performed; and
(7)to picket or cause to be picketed, or threaten to picket or cause to be picketed, any employer where an object thereof is forcing or requiring an employer to recognize or bargain with a labor organization as the representative of his employees, or forcing or requiring the employees of an employer to accept or select such labor organization as their collective bargaining representative, unless such labor organization is currently certified as the representative of such employees:
(A)where the employer has lawfully recognized in accordance with this subchapter any other labor organization and a question concerning representation may not appropriately be raised under section 159(c) of this title,
(B)where within the preceding twelve months a valid election under section 159(c) of this title has been conducted, or
(C)where such picketing has been conducted without a petition under section 159(c) of this title being filed within a reasonable period of time not to exceed thirty days from the commencement of such picketing: Provided, That when such a petition has been filed the Board shall forthwith, without regard to the provisions of section 159(c)(1) of this title or the absence of a showing of a substantial interest on the part of the labor organization, direct an election in such unit as the Board finds to be appropriate and shall certify the results thereof: Provided further, That nothing in this subparagraph (C) shall be construed to prohibit any picketing or other publicity for the purpose of truthfully advising the public (including consumers) that an employer does not employ members of, or have a contract with, a labor organization, unless an effect of such picketing is to induce any individual employed by any other person in the course of his employment, not to pick up, deliver or transport any goods or not to perform any services.
Nothing in this paragraph (7) shall be construed to permit any act which would otherwise be an unfair labor practice under this subsection.
You have the right, individually or as a group, to express your views about forming or not forming a Union. You have the right to express your views about workplace conditions, safety, pay and/or benefits without threat of reprisal. The employer also has the right to express their views on labor unions - opinions do go both ways. The caveat is that in the expression of those views cannot come with the threat of reprisal or promise of benefit. Examples we have found in our online browsing include the following:
An employer offers a pay raise to those who promise not to vote for a Union
The Union states they will not advocate on behalf of those who do not vote for a Union
Threats of violence, continued harassment or disruption of routine workplace activities
Misrepresenting of making false statements about what a Union will/is doing
Coercive questioning about support for Union organizing
There are many other examples that can be found here: Interfering with employee rights (Section 7 & 8(a)(1)) | National Labor Relations Board (nlrb.gov)
And to review the NLRA and law that governs this expression of views, we again look at 29 U.S. Code § 158 Chapter 7:
"(c)Expression of views without threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit. The expressing of any views, argument, or opinion, or the dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic, or visual form, shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under any of the provisions of this subchapter, if such expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit."
Employers have the right to prohibit employees from talking about non-work issues in work areas during work hours. They may not prohibit this speech in areas such as break rooms or off property and may not prohibit talking about non-work issues during breaks or non-work time. But what about us? We don't have scheduled breaks and might not have break rooms like other places of employment do. Well, we don't know about your individual work location, but we are not prohibited from discussing non-work issues during down time. This leads into the fact that an employer can not selectively enforce a prohibition on discussing Union related topics while not enforcing rules on all other non-work issues. The interpretation of this can be found here: Shop Talk: Rules on Union-Related Conversations and Activities at Work | Nolo
In a NLRB Decision regarding BMW Manufacturing, issued December 2020, the employer was directed to stop "Discriminatorily prohibiting employees from talking about the union, but not other nonwork subjects during working time" (BMW Manufacturing Co. | National Labor Relations Board). In another decision on that same date, American Medical Response West was instructed to " Cease and desist from (a) directing employees to remove, and not to wear “No on Prop 11” buttons during working hours. (b) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act" (American Medical Response West | National Labor Relations Board).
And direct from the NLRB: "Working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution, except that your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms. Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related matters during working time." (Your Rights during Union Organizing | National Labor Relations Board).
This is not an easy path - but we can tell you what we plan to do. We will ensure that we complete all of our assigned duties in an expeditious process (like always!) every shift. We will ensure that we are engaged in our mission once activated. We will enjoy the luxury of down time that is one of the great benefits of this profession. We will not pressure or badger those who do not wish to discuss unionization but offer them the opportunity if they ever change their mind!
Please note that we are not attorneys nor are we offering legal advice. Engaging in Union Organizing activity does not come without risk and nothing in this page or on this site as a whole should be interpreted as legal advice. This information is being presented after research, education and our best efforts to present you with our interpretations of the references we provide so that you can make your own decisions!
| Home | Our Why | Our Goals | Links | Protected Activity | Benefits| Q & A | Contact Us | Privacy Policy |