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Structural Labor Rights, Hiba Hafiz
Structural Labor Rights, Hiba Hafiz
Michigan Law Review
American labor law was designed to ensure equal bargaining power between workers and employers. But workers’ collective power against increasingly dominant employers has disintegrated. With union density at an abysmal 6.2 percent in the private sector—a level unequaled since the Great Depression— the vast majority of workers depend only on individual negotiations with employers to lift stagnant wages and ensure upward economic mobility. But decentralized, individual bargaining is not enough. Economists and legal scholars increasingly agree that, absent regulation to protect workers’ collective rights, labor markets naturally strengthen employers’ bargaining power over workers. Existing labor and antitrust law have failed …
Are Unions A Constitutional Anomaly?, Cynthia Estlund
Are Unions A Constitutional Anomaly?, Cynthia Estlund
Michigan Law Review
This term in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Ass’n, the Supreme Court will consider whether ordinary public employees may constitutionally be required to pay an “agency fee,” as a condition of employment, to the union that represents them in collective bargaining. The Court established the terms of engagement in the 2014 decision Harris v. Quinn, which struck down an agency fee on narrower grounds while describing the current doctrine approving agency fees, blessed many times by the Court itself, as an “anomaly.” This Article asks whether labor unions are themselves anomalies in our legal system, particularly in their constitutional entitlements. Its …
Deconstructing 'Just And Proper': Arguments In Favor Of Adopting The 'Remedial Purpose' Approach To Section 10(J) Labor Injunctions, William K. Briggs
Deconstructing 'Just And Proper': Arguments In Favor Of Adopting The 'Remedial Purpose' Approach To Section 10(J) Labor Injunctions, William K. Briggs
Michigan Law Review
Congress, through the 1947 addition of section 10(j) to the National Labor Relations Act, authorized district courts to grant preliminary injunctive relief for unfair labor practices if they deem such relief "just and proper." To this day a circuit split persists over the correct interpretation of this "just and proper" standard. Some circuits interpret "just and proper" to require application of the traditional equitable principles approach that normally governs preliminary injunctions. Other circuits interpret "just and proper" to require an analysis of whether injunctive relief is necessary to preserve the National Labor Relations Board's remedial power This Note examines the …
The Continuing Relevance Of Section 8(A)(2) To The Contemporary Workplace, Michael C. Harper
The Continuing Relevance Of Section 8(A)(2) To The Contemporary Workplace, Michael C. Harper
Michigan Law Review
After embarking on his illustrious career as a legal academic, Theodore St. Antoine, through a multitude of roles, including those of scholar, teacher, administrator, pragmatic law reformer, and arbitrator, made innumerable contributions to the practice and development of many parts of American law. For most of us, however, as a scholar he will be associated primarily with the system of collective bargaining established and encouraged by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and its progeny. During the first part of Professor St. Antoine's years as an academic, this system continued to flourish in America, as he, along with other legal …
Are Trojan Horse Union Organizers "Employees"?: A New Look At Deference To The Nlrb's Iterpretation Of Nlra Section 2(3), Jonathan D. Hacker
Are Trojan Horse Union Organizers "Employees"?: A New Look At Deference To The Nlrb's Iterpretation Of Nlra Section 2(3), Jonathan D. Hacker
Michigan Law Review
This Note takes a different approach to interpreting section 2(3). Although this Note agrees that section 2(3) neither clearly includes nor clearly excludes trojan horse organizers, it also argues that the definition of employee under section 2(3) must be determined by looking to common law principles of agency. In other words, the question whether courts should defer to the Board's interpretation of section 2(3) does not turn on statutory ambiguity. Rather, courts have a continuing duty to ensure that the Board interprets employee consistently with common law agency principles. Nevertheless, the correct interpretation of employee under agency principles ultimately turns …
Labor Law's Alter Ego Doctrine: The Role Of Employer Motive In Corporate Transformations, Gary Alan Macdonald
Labor Law's Alter Ego Doctrine: The Role Of Employer Motive In Corporate Transformations, Gary Alan Macdonald
Michigan Law Review
This Note examines the differing judicial approaches for reviewing NLRB alter ego findings, and concludes that a fundamental problem with all of the current approaches is the unwarranted consideration of motive in varying degrees. This Note proposes a modified "reasonably foreseeable benefit" standard which does not depend in any degree on the employer's motive for changing its corporate form. Part I discusses the origin and evolution of the alter ego doctrine, including its genesis in Southport Petroleum, the well-settled Crawford Door factors, and the related "successorship" doctrine. Part II analyzes the conflict among the federal courts of appeals over …
Employer Postcertification Polls To Determine Union Support, James D. Dasso
Employer Postcertification Polls To Determine Union Support, James D. Dasso
Michigan Law Review
This Note evaluates these competing standards in light of the two major policy objectives of the NLRA: industrial stability and employee free choice. It concludes that the courts of appeals properly apply a less stringent standard. Part I considers employer polling in the larger context of the general law of employer interrogation. This section concludes that the Board's standard for postcertification polling deviates significantly from the general law of employer interrogation as well as the more specific rules established for precertification polling. The remainder of this Note demonstrates that the Board's distinctions between pre- and postcertification polling do not justify …
Participatory Management Under Sections 2(5) And 8(A) (2) Of The National Labor Relations Act, Michigan Law Review
Participatory Management Under Sections 2(5) And 8(A) (2) Of The National Labor Relations Act, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note argues that participatory management programs initiated by the employer in nonunion settings should be permissible under the NLRA when they do not restrict the freedom of employees to choose their own bargaining representative. Section I describes the major currents of participatory management theory. Section II explores the restrictive interpretation the National Labor Relations Board (Board) and the courts have traditionally given those sections of the NLRA applicable to participatory management programs. Section III describes the increasingly permissive approach taken by some courts, and to a lesser extent by the Board, in applying the NLRA to participatory management settings. …
The Labor-Bankruptcy Conflict: Rejection Of A Debtor's Collective Bargaining Agreement, Michigan Law Review
The Labor-Bankruptcy Conflict: Rejection Of A Debtor's Collective Bargaining Agreement, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note examines the courts' accommodation of the labor and bankruptcy policies when a debtor in possession or trustee seeks to reject a collective bargaining agreement. Part I criticizes a series of recent cases that failed to confront the statutory conflict. If these courts had recognized the conflict between the language of the Bankruptcy Act (now the Code) and the Labor Act, they would have been forced to consider whether the labor and bankruptcy policies actually clashed. Part II finds that in most instances they do not, and argues that requiring the debtor in possession to bargain with the union …
Title Vii And Nlra: Protection Of Extra-Union Opposition To Employment Discrimination, Michigan Law Review
Title Vii And Nlra: Protection Of Extra-Union Opposition To Employment Discrimination, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act guarantees freedom from employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin and establishes remedial procedures for aggrieved employees. A nondiscrimination clause in a collective bargaining agreement may also protect employees from discriminatory treatment; typically, the contract will also contain grievance machinery through which the employee, with the aid of his union, can present his complaint. The question remains: When both title VII and contract grievance procedures are available, can an individual employee or a group of employees take direct action against an allegedly discriminatory employer independently of the union and …
Labor Law--Collective Bargaining--The Retirement Benefits Of Retired Employees Are A Mandatory Subject Of Bargaining Because Retirees Are "Employees" Under The Nlra And Because Active Employees Have An Interest In Such Benefits--Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, Chemical Division, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Recent Development will examine the substance and implications of the latter aspect of Pittsburgh Plate Glass, although it is only dictum in the case. The third ground of the Board's conclusion regarding retirement benefits was really only a general reiteration of the first two. It is therefore apparent that that ground is dependent upon the validity of either or both of the other two bases of the Board's conclusion.
Labor Relations--Consumer Picketing Under Section 8(B) (4) (Ii) (B) Of The National Labor Relations Act--Honolulu Typographical Union, No. 37, I.T.U., A.F.L.-C.I.O. V. Nlrb, Michigan Law Review
Labor Relations--Consumer Picketing Under Section 8(B) (4) (Ii) (B) Of The National Labor Relations Act--Honolulu Typographical Union, No. 37, I.T.U., A.F.L.-C.I.O. V. Nlrb, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The principal case is concerned generally with the problem of secondary activity by unions, and specifically with the application of a judicially created exception to the general prohibition against such activity. As originally written, section 8(b)(4) was intended to protect neutral employers from becoming involved in disputes between other employers and unions by prohibiting certain union activities. Among the practices forbidden was the traditional secondary boycott which arises when a union in a dispute with a primary employer brings pressure to bear on other employers (secondary employers), through their employees, to cease doing business with the primary. However, the statute …
Labor Law--Res Judicata--The Applicability Of Res Judicata And Collateral Estoppel To Actions Brought Under Section 8(B) (4) Of The National Labor Relations Act, Michigan Law Review
Labor Law--Res Judicata--The Applicability Of Res Judicata And Collateral Estoppel To Actions Brought Under Section 8(B) (4) Of The National Labor Relations Act, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Note is concerned primarily with the possibility of granting preclusive effect to the Board's determination of the issue of union liability under the section 8(b)(4) charge. Since traditional collateral estoppel principles must be adapted somewhat when applied to the Board's procedures, the preclusive effect given to the prior determination of liability will be referred to simply as "estoppel" in order to avoid confusion with the doctrine of collateral estoppel as it was developed in the courts.
Product Picketing-A New Loophole In Section 8(H) (4) Of The National Labor Relations Act?, Michael A. Warner
Product Picketing-A New Loophole In Section 8(H) (4) Of The National Labor Relations Act?, Michael A. Warner
Michigan Law Review
Legal writers have been intrigued for years by the challenge of classifying and identifying the resulting incidents of the joint and survivor bank deposit when an attempt is made to use it as a mode of effectuating a donor depositor's intention to confer benefits on a donee co-depositor. Much in their discussions is useful to one who is concerned with the concept that has evolved in Michigan, where a 1909 statute states that some co-depositors are presumed to be joint tenants. Michigan judges and practitioners must determine, however, whether comment about national trends is applicable here, for in many respects …
Labor Law - Labor Management Relations Act - Linking "Employer Free Speech" To No-Solicitation Rule, Barbara Burger
Labor Law - Labor Management Relations Act - Linking "Employer Free Speech" To No-Solicitation Rule, Barbara Burger
Michigan Law Review
During an organizational campaign the employer prohibited any dissemination of literature on company property and soliciting or campaigning on company time by employees while itself distributing within the plant non-threatening, anti-union literature. General Counsel for the NLRB contended that by this conduct the employer "interfered with, restrained or coerced" employees in their exercise of the right to self-organization. This contention was rejected by the NLRB, but on appeal was accepted by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, reversed, two justices dissenting. Even if an employer could commit …
Labor Law - Labor - Management Relations Act - Further Comments On Federalism, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.
Labor Law - Labor - Management Relations Act - Further Comments On Federalism, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Until a decade ago, the nation's lawyers paid little attention to the status of federal-state relations in the regulation of labor disputes. Today there hardly appears a volume of a legal journal that does not contain the product of new efforts to bring order out of the chaos that prevails in this area. A number of writers have apparently given up the task of reconciling statutory provisions with case law and case law with sound federal policy, and have resorted to the simpler, yet challenging, method of proposing amendments to existing federal statutes. Worthy as these efforts may be in …
Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Enforceability Of Collective Agreements Under Section 301(A), Douglas Peck S.Ed.
Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Enforceability Of Collective Agreements Under Section 301(A), Douglas Peck S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, an unincorporated labor organization, filed suit in federal district court to enforce a collective bargaining agreement with defendant. The complaint alleged that defendant was obligated by the agreement to pay employees represented by the plaintiff their full salary for the month of April 1951 regardless of the fact that they had been absent on certain working days. The suit was brought under section 301 (a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947.On appeal from a court of appeals decision directing dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. An action by a labor organization to enforce …
Labor Law - State Jurisdiction Over Acts Which Are Unfair Labor Practices Under Federal Labor Legislation, Eugene Alkema S.Ed.
Labor Law - State Jurisdiction Over Acts Which Are Unfair Labor Practices Under Federal Labor Legislation, Eugene Alkema S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Extensive federal labor legislation under the commerce clause has created a perplexing jurisdictional problem in the state courts, which are confronted increasingly with the critical issue of possible conflict with a federal preemptive area of operation. The extent to which the federal government has superseded state jurisdiction over labor matters has remained unsettled under the current case law and the legislative history of the federal acts, and the need for clarification is apparent at a time when labor cases are reaching the courts in increasing numbers. It is natural for unions to raise the issue of lack of jurisdiction in …
Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Applicable Remedies When An Employer Transers To A New Location To Avoid Dealing With A Union, John F. Dodge, Jr. S.Ed.
Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Applicable Remedies When An Employer Transers To A New Location To Avoid Dealing With A Union, John F. Dodge, Jr. S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
An interstate trucking concern with depots in numerous cities, was approached by a union seeking recognition as the bargaining representative of the office and clerical workers at one of the depots. The employer, after interrogating the employees involved as to their union affiliation, transferred the clerical work done at that depot to an office in a different city, but continued operating the trucking depot itself. The clerical employees were discharged but were offered reinstatement at the new location, together with reimbursement of the expenses of moving to the new location. Held, the employer violated sections 8(a)(1), 8(a)(3), and 8(a)(5) …
Constitutional Law - State Action - Trade Union's Authority Is Not Derived From The State, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.
Constitutional Law - State Action - Trade Union's Authority Is Not Derived From The State, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs claimed that defendant union and defendant company conspired to discriminate against Negro cab driver employees by means of a working regulation intended to compel plaintiffs to pick up passengers only in wards inhabited primarily by Negroes. Two bases for original jurisdiction in federal court were advanced. First, it was contended that the cause of action involved more than $3,000 and arose under the laws of the United States because the bargaining power of the union was conferred upon it by the National Labor Relations Act. Second, it was maintained that the Civil Rights Act vested jurisdiction, on the ground …
Labor Law-Labor-Management Relations Act-Jurisdiction Of Federal Courts To Enjoin Unfair Labor Practices, W. J. Schrenk, Jr. S.Ed.
Labor Law-Labor-Management Relations Act-Jurisdiction Of Federal Courts To Enjoin Unfair Labor Practices, W. J. Schrenk, Jr. S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Following a breakdown in negotiations over contract extension, plaintiff union, the certified representative of defendant's employees, sued in a federal district court, alleging that defendant was guilty of an unfair labor practice under the Labor-Management Relations Act in refusing to bargain in good faith. An injunction was sought requiring defendant to bargain with the union. The district court overruled motions' to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and granted the relief requested. On appeal, held, reversed. The district court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit. Amazon Cotton Mills Co. v. Textile Workers Union, (C.C.A. 4th, 1948) 167 F. (2d) …
The Authority Of The National War Labor Board Over Labor Disputes, Leonard B. Boudin
The Authority Of The National War Labor Board Over Labor Disputes, Leonard B. Boudin
Michigan Law Review
The National War Labor Board has reached the respectable age of two years. Supported originally only by the President's war powers, it has secured compliance with its orders, has weathered a minor congressional investigation, and has built up a body of decisions whose effect will continue after the war. These facts, as well as certain signs of the conservatism which appears to strike all government agencies at one time or another, entitle the board to a short survey of certain aspects of its jurisdiction and authority.