Law Commons^™

Rethinking Financial Information Disclosure Under The National Labor Relations Act, Brent Robbins

Vanderbilt Law Review

The National Labor Relations Act's ("NLRA") central purpose is to reduce industrial strife and stimulate economic growth by promoting collective bargaining between employers and unions.' The 1947 amendments to the Act make clear that collective bargaining must be conducted in good faith. Under the Act, as interpreted by the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") and the courts, labor and management must bargain collectively in good faith over the "mandatory" subjects of "wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment." From its earliest days, the NLRB has interpreted the duty to bargain collectively as requiring companies to bargain collectively with …

The Future Of Labor-Management Cooperative Efforts Under Section 8(1)(2) Of The National Labor Relations Actfff, David H. Brody

Vanderbilt Law Review

Much of the current debate concerning labor-management cooperative efforts centers on section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), which makes dominating, interfering with, or contributing to the formation or administration of any labor organization an unfair labor practice. On its face, this section may inhibit cooperative efforts through a prohibition of management support for employee organizations. The effect of section 8(a)(2), however, need not be so restrictive because of the Act's underlying concern for the effectuation of employee freedom of choice. A concern for employee free choice provides a means for permitting positive cooperative efforts, consistent with …

The Supreme Court Takes One Step Forward And The Nlrb Takes One Step Backward: Redefining Constructive Concerted Activities, Christina A. Karcher

Vanderbilt Law Review

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act) governs the relationship between employers and employees in the United States. Specifically, section 7 of the Act 3 defines the basic rights of employees and section 8(a)4 defines employer unfair labor practices. Section 8(a)(1) generally proscribes employers from interfering with employees in the exercise of section 7 rights.' Thus,many unfair labor practice cases turn on whether section 7 of the Act protects the employee activity. Section 7 protects "concerted activities" engaged in "for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection."' Courts frequently struggle to determine whether given …

Protecting A Union Member's Right To Resign-Resolution Of The Conflict Between Dalmo Victor And Rockford-Beloit, Laura A. Norman

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development contends that a union restriction on a member's right to resign constitutes an unfair labor practice under section 8(b)(1)(A). Part II of this Recent Development focuses on judicial and Board treatment of the inherent conflict between an employee's section 7 right to refrain from collective activity and a union's authority to regulate internal affairs.

Part III examines three recent decisions addressing a union's authority to restrict a member's right to resign. Finally, part IV suggests that the Supreme Court should apply the Scofield v. NLRB three-part test to union rules restricting resignation. Part IV also asserts that …

The National Labor Relations Act Does Not Preempt A Discharged Permanent Replacement Worker's State Cause Of Action, Stephanie L. Stromire

Vanderbilt Law Review

The purpose of this Recent Development is to examine the issues surrounding discharged permanent replacement workers and to discuss problems confronting state courts that try to implement the Belknap decision. Part II of this Recent Development analyzes the legal background leading up to Belknap. Part III examines the Belknap opinion. Part IV criticizes the decision on three fronts and suggests possible ways of addressing the problems that Belknap presents.

The First Amendment And Nonpicketing Labor Publicity Under Section 8(B)(4)(Ii)(B) Of The National Labor Relations Act, Lee Goldman

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article attempts to provide the appropriate constitutional analysis of restrictions on nonpicketing labor publicity. Part II describes the relevant statute and illustrative cases, including the Supreme Court's DeBartolo decision, that have raised but not resolved the first amendment issues concerning nonpicketing labor publicity. The cases focus attention on two restrictions the courts have imposed on nonpicketing labor publicity-the "producer-distributor" and the "for the purpose of" requirements. Part III analyzes the protected status of the nonpicketing labor speech by comparing nonpicketing labor publicity with labor picketing and commercial speech-two areas that bear superficial similarity to nonpicketing labor publicity and that …

Discharge Of Supervisors For Union-Related Activity: An Examination Of "Pattern Of Conduct" Analysis, Michael L. Dagley

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Board decisions such as Brothers Three Cabinets suggest that the Board has frequently contravened congressional intent by extending the protection of the Act to cover supervisors. This Note begins with an examination of the legislative history of the Taft-Hartley Amendments, focusing upon the congressional intent behind the exclusion of supervisory personnel from the protection normally afforded employees under the Act. The Note then traces the historical development of supervisory discharge law and analyzes the development of the "pattern of conduct" standard. Finally, the Note investigates the inherent analytical problems with the "pattern of conduct" standard, examines the inconsistent application …

Alternative Proposals For The Regulation Of An Emergency Strike In The Health Care Industry, Susan A. Jones

Vanderbilt Law Review

In order to give approximately 1,400,0001 health care employees the protection enjoyed by employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Congress amended the Act in 1974 to make health care institutions "employers. Recognizing the public's dependence upon the unique services provided by health care facilities, Congress was hesitant, however, to extend coverage under the Act to health care employees without providing additional safe-guards. These safeguards are embodied in the following special provisions: (1) the extension of the sixty-day notice requirement for modification of an expiring contract to ninety days; (2) the creation of a thirty-day notice requirement of a …

The Role Of The Nlrb And The Courts In The Collective Bargaining Process: A Fresh Look At Conventional Wisdom And Unconventional Remedies, Charles J. Morris

Vanderbilt Law Review

The amended National Labor Relations Act (the Act) guarantees that "employers, employees, and labor organizations each recognize under law one another's legitimate rights in their relations to each other."' In furtherance of this objective, the Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin amendments substantially increased the Act's protection of individual employee rights and sharply restrained many union activities that were deemed economically and socially undesirable. Those amendments, however, left intact the basic structure of the original Wagner Act providing for establishment of collective bargaining whenever a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit designate a bargaining agent to represent them. Once a …

Limitations On Employer Independent Action, Robert J. Rabin

Vanderbilt Law Review

An important change appears to be taking place in measuring the limitations upon an employer's independent right to run his business. Where this question was formerly tested under the National Labor Relations Act,' which defines the scope of the duty to bargain, recent developments suggest that the scope of independent employer action' henceforth will be determined through the arbitration process.This is a salutary development, since the question of the scope of independent employer action is a complicated one and ought to be resolved by application of the surest kinds of guidelines. A carefully drafted collective bargaining agreement can spell out …

The Development Of The Collyer Deferral Doctrine, Peter G. Nash, Roland P. Wilder, Jr., Alan Banov

Vanderbilt Law Review

Collyer Insulated Wire' has been one of the most significant decisions by the National Labor Relations Board (Board) in recent years..That case established the principle' that the policies of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) could best be effectuated if the Board deferred resolution of disputes based primarily on the meaning and application of a collective-bargaining agreement to the grievance--arbitration provisions of the parties' agreement. While the underpinnings of Collyer are traceable to well-established NLRB and judicial precedents, the decision is nonetheless an important new "developmental step"' that has precipitated far-reaching changes in the Board's approach to processing …

An Employer's Unilateral Action -- An Unfair Labor Practice?, J. Gilmer Bowman, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the Industrial Revolution, the growth of enormous industrial establishments with a correspondingly large number of workers hired to perform increasingly simple tasks manifested the inability of an individual effectively to bargain with an employer concerning wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of the employment relationship. The resulting discontent among workers produced long and bitter, often bloody, outbreaks of economic warfare between employers and employees. In the abstract, freedom of contract was possible still, but as a practical matter employment benefits and obligations were largely established by managerial fiat. It was felt that if employees could effectively unite for …