Some of the provisions according to the Unites States History were as followed:
- It allowed the president to appoint a board of inquiry to investigate union disputes when he believes a strike would endanger national health or safety, and obtain an 80-day injunction to stop the continuation of a strike.
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It declared all illegal.
- It permitted union shops only after a majority of the employees voted for them.
- It forbade jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts.
- It ended the check-off system whereby the employer collects union dues.
- It forbade unions from contributing to political campaigns.
Although many people tried to repeal the act, the Taft-Hartley Act stayed in effect until 1959 when the Landrum-Griffin Act amended some of its features. (“United States History”, n.d.)
National Labor Relations Board
Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy. (“NLRB”, n.d.)
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency who helped administer the National Labor Relations Act which helped employees with collective bargaining agreements with their employers and assisted with the prevention of any unfair labor practices performed by either their employers or unions they belonged too.
Right to Work Laws
Right to Work Laws are laws that help employees have the right to choose whether or not they want to belong to a Labor Union after accepting a position. These laws also help the current union employees have the freedom to choose whether or not they want to stay within the Union they are in without fear of being penalized either by termination or continuous paying of membership dues after they are out.
Right to Work Laws are not looked upon highly by Labor Unions because of the fact that their members have the right to leave without having to continue to pay their dues and new employees have the right to choose whether or not they want to be apart of them.
Labor Unions rely on their members money to help finance their causes, although they will say it is to continue to allow them to offer fair working condition protection for their members. If they lose their already joined members and don’t get to call the shots on bringing in new members, this causes a large inconvenience for them, this is why the majority of Labor Unions are trying to fight these Right to Work Laws from happening in their states. Right now there are 23 US states that have adopted the Right to Work Laws with other states looking to follow in their footsteps.
Human Resources and Collective Bargaining Initiatives
Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees so as to determine the conditions of employment. The result of collective bargaining procedures is a collective agreement. Employees are often represented in bargaining by a union or other labor organization. Collective bargaining is governed by federal and state statutory laws, administrative agency regulations, and judicial decisions. In areas where federal and state law overlap, state laws are preempted. (“Collective Bargaining”, 2012)
The role that Human Resources play in collective bargaining initiatives is defined by the NLRA. (National Labor Relations Act) "The Human Resource representative must bargain with the appointed representative of its employees. The Human Resource representative acts as the voice of the company with the authority to bargain or negotiate with their employees through an appointed representative to keep the company going by avoiding a strike." (“Collective Bargaining”, 2012)
In other words, the human resources representative becomes the mediator during the negotiations to make sure that both sides come to a fair agreement. It is very important that both the employee and employer have a voice to speak for them or assist them in negotiations with each other. The Union will usually be the voice for the employee and Human Resources usually is the voice for the employer.
Collective Bargaining Industries
Most industries are successful due to collective bargaining while others are not. Identifying those particular industries are easy to identify due to their success in the labor market. (“Collective Bargaining”, 2012)
According to Steven Brown of Ezine Articles, three industries that are successful with Collective Bargaining are:
- Auto Industry
- Food and Service Industry
- United Steelworkers Industry
The auto industry historically has played a prominent role in American collective bargaining, introducing many now common features -- multi-year contracts with cost-of-living adjustment escalators and built-in annual real wage increases, supplementary unemployment benefits, pensions, quality of working life programs, and pattern bargaining. (“Ezine”, 2012)
The Food and Service Industries are using collective bargaining to change their ongoing poor working conditions. Better wages, lower cost health care with the employer paying more of the amount and other bargaining might be a renewed interest in unionization amongst other industries. (“Ezine”, 2012)
The United Steelworkers industry has been short changed with unfair trade, retirement and benefits, healthcare, and job security. The Steelworkers industry has a great collective bargaining setup to negotiate and bargain with their employers and the Federal Government. The USW is highly involved with collective bargaining for their employees. (“Ezine”, 2012)
Non Collective Bargaining Industries
There are some industries out in the world today that do not need unionized help which keeps them from needing any collective bargaining agreements being made. Two of these industries are as followed:
- Fishing Industry
- Farming Industry
A lot but not all of the Fishing and Farming Industries are non unionized industries in which they don’t need a labor union to protect their rights because these two industries usually revolve around individual workers vs. an organization of workers. You have fisherman and farmers who work independently that do not need to be covered by a Union because their working conditions are what they make of them. Usually they do their own negotiations with other individuals or vendors that would like to use their services or buy their products. There are some workers out there in both of these industries that do belong to a Union, but a lot of the industry is non unionized.
Key Characteristics
Some Key Characteristics of Collective Bargaining Industries include:
- Encouragement of Unions and Associations getting along to reduce the risk of strikes and to continue to protect employees from horrible working conditions.
- Better chances of great collective bargaining agreements between the employee, union and employer.
- Continued protection from the unions
- Better Problem Solving
Some Key Characteristics of Non Collective Bargaining Industries include:
- Higher risks of strikes and lockouts
- Unfavorable and or weak union conditions
- No employee protection against fair working conditions
- No Collective Bargaining agreements being made
Conclusion
Unions are here to help protect the employees from unfair working conditions. They give a voice to the employees by working with the employers and creating collective bargaining agreements that will be of satisfaction to all parties involved. Laws such as the National Relation Labor Act and the Taft-Hartley Act were set into place to protect the employees from unfair treatment from the labor unions. The Right to Work Law also assisted employees with the right to choose whether or not they wanted to be apart of a union as well as the right to leave a union without having to fear any repercussions of doing so. Whether or not an employee is forced into a Union or not, with all these laws and regulations set into place, they still have the protection they need to thrive greatly in their careers.
References
Collective Bargaining. (2012). Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Collective-Bargaining&id=708721
Labor Unions. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/labor-unions-reference/labor-unions-174357
National Labor Relations Act. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/national-labor-relations-act
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1667.html
The Labor Union Movement in America. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Eco_Unionization.htm
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