Law Commons^™

On Mock Funerals, Banners, And Giant Rat Balloons: Why Current Interpretation Of Section 8(B)(4)(Ii)(B) Of The National Labor Relations Act Unconstitutionality Burdens Union Speech, Kate L. Racokzy

American University Law Review

This Comment discusses whether the government may prohibit unions from engaging in types of secondary protest like mock funerals. Since 1959, § 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”) has made it illegal for unions to “threaten, coerce, or restrain” secondary employers into severing their business ties with primary employers. Precisely what forms of protest this provision outlaws, however, is unclear. On one end of the spectrum, courts almost always find that picketing secondary employers constitutes illegal coercion, for courts see pickets as having a unique power to induce automatic action. On the other end, the …