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Full-Text Articles in Law
Orchestrated Experimentalism In The Regulation Of Work, Orly Lobel
Orchestrated Experimentalism In The Regulation Of Work, Orly Lobel
Michigan Law Review
Since the advent of the New Deal vision, work and the workplace have undergone dramatic changes. Policies and institutions that were designed to provide good working conditions and voice for workers are no longer fulfilling their promise. In Working in America: A Blueprint for the New Labor Market ("Blueprint"), four MIT economists take on the challenge of envisioning a new regulatory regime that will fit the realities of the new market. The result of several years of deliberation with various groups in business and labor, academia, and government, Blueprint provides a thoughtful yet unsettling vision of the future of work. …
Contract Rights And Civil Rights, Davison M. Douglas
Contract Rights And Civil Rights, Davison M. Douglas
Michigan Law Review
Have African Americans fared better under a scheme of freedom of contract or of government regulation of private employment relationships? Have court decisions striking down regulation of employment contracts on liberty of contract grounds aided black interests? Many contemporary observers, although with some notable dissenters, would respond that government regulation of freedom of contract, particularly the antidiscrimination provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, has benefited African Americans because it has restrained discriminatory conduct by private employers. Professor David E. Bernstein challenges the view that abrogation of freedom of contract has consistently benefited African Americans by …
Labor Law-Nlrb Regulation Of Employer's Pre-Election Captive Audience Speeches, Michigan Law Review
Labor Law-Nlrb Regulation Of Employer's Pre-Election Captive Audience Speeches, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
One of the most effective weapons that an employer may utilize to dissuade his employees from accepting unionization is an antiunion speech delivered to the assembled employees on company time and property shortly before a scheduled representation election. Two recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decisions have provided an opportunity for reopening the much debated question of a campaigning union's right to reply under equal opportunity conditions to such a captive audience speech. In McCulloch Corp., a union sought to have the unfavorable results of a representation election set aside on the ground that the employer's refusal to allow …
Establishment Of Bargaining Rights Without An Nlrb Election, Howard Lesnick
Establishment Of Bargaining Rights Without An Nlrb Election, Howard Lesnick
Michigan Law Review
Those who have become accustomed to keep one ear cocked for the five-part harmony relentlessly ground out by the mimeograph machines at NLRB headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue-those whom one may call professional Board-watchers-have doubtless noticed how fashions come and go in the subjects of NLRB litigation. It is as if the interest of litigants as easily wanes as does that of the reader of opinions, for there is a fairly regular succession of themes, each to be developed for a time until, as though by common consent, attention swings toward a different problem entirely. The wave of the present, I …
Labor Law-Two Views Of A Labor Relations Consultant's Duty To Report Under Section 203 Of The Lmrda, Michigan Law Review
Labor Law-Two Views Of A Labor Relations Consultant's Duty To Report Under Section 203 Of The Lmrda, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Title II of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) requires unions, union officials, union employees, employers and "labor relations consultants" to file various reports with the Secretary of Labor. The purpose of these provisions is to discourage corrupt, though not necessarily illegal, labor management activities by disclosing them for public scrutiny. Section 203(b) of the Act, which is aimed at the "labor relations consultant," states that "every person" who agrees with an employer to "directly or indirectly" (1) "persuade employees" regarding their right to organize and bargain collectively or (2) inform the employer of certain union-employee activities must file …
The Unanswered Questions Of American Ship, Michigan Law Review
The Unanswered Questions Of American Ship, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The National Labor Relations Act does not specifically prohibit an employer from temporarily locking out his employees during collective bargaining negotiations. For many years, nevertheless, only lockouts used solely to avoid substantial economic loss as a result of union action-so-called "defensive" lockouts-were allowed. However, the emphasis which Congress placed on equality of bargaining pressure in enacting the Taft-Hartley amendments to the NLRA has caused a change in this judicial attitude. Although a few courts have gone so far as to suggest that the lockout should be as freely available as the strike, the United States Supreme Court has been more …
Labor Law--Nlrb Refuses To Apply Related Work Doctrine To Construction Site Picketing--Building And Construction Trades Council (Markwell & Hartz), Michigan Law Review
Labor Law--Nlrb Refuses To Apply Related Work Doctrine To Construction Site Picketing--Building And Construction Trades Council (Markwell & Hartz), Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The New Orleans Building and Construction Trades Council, an association of craft unions, was engaged in a labor dispute with Markwell & Hartz, the general contractor on a construction project. In support of its dispute with the general contractor (primary employer), the Council picketed all gates leading to the job site, although some gates had been specifically reserved for the exclusive use of those subcontractors (secondary employers) with whom the union had no dispute. Employees of the subcontractors refused to cross the picket line to perform work pursuant to their employers' contracts with the general contractor. Markwell & Hartz filed …
Labor Law-State Court Jurisdiction Over Employee's Damage Action Against Union For Failure To Process Fully Grievance Is Not Pre-Empted By The Nlrb-Sipes V. Vaca, Michigan Law Review
Labor Law-State Court Jurisdiction Over Employee's Damage Action Against Union For Failure To Process Fully Grievance Is Not Pre-Empted By The Nlrb-Sipes V. Vaca, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, discharged by his employer on the ground that he was no longer physically able to work, enlisted the aid of his union to contest the dismissal. Under the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the employer, the union was to seek redress of employee complaints by means of a five step grievance procedure, with arbitration as the final step. The union processed plaintiff's grievance without success through the first four steps of the procedure, but refused to take the issue to the arbitral level. Plaintiff brought suit against the union in a Missouri county circuit …
Labor Law-Nrab Awards In Work Assignment Disputes Are Unenforceable Unless The Board Has Considered The Interest Of The Competing Union-Order Of R.R. Telegraphers V. Union Pac. R.R., Michigan Law Review
Labor Law-Nrab Awards In Work Assignment Disputes Are Unenforceable Unless The Board Has Considered The Interest Of The Competing Union-Order Of R.R. Telegraphers V. Union Pac. R.R., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The Order of Railroad Telegraphers filed a complaint with the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB), alleging that the Union Pacific Railroad had violated its collective bargaining agreement with the union by assigning work covered by that agreement to members of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks. The Telegraphers sought damages in the form of back pay, but did not demand job reinstatement. Notice of the Telegrapher's claim was served on the Clerks who declined to appear before the Board since they viewed the dispute as one which involved only an interpretation of the contract between the Telegraphers and the …
The Report Of The President's Cabinet Committee On Private Pension Plan Regulation: An Appraisal, Thomas B. Ridgley
The Report Of The President's Cabinet Committee On Private Pension Plan Regulation: An Appraisal, Thomas B. Ridgley
Michigan Law Review
The growth of private employee pension plans in the American economy is astonishing. From 1953 to the end of 1964, the accumulation of assets of private pension funds has grown from 16.9 billion dollars to 75 billion dollars, with a projected accumulation of 225 billion dollars by 1980. At present, private retirement plans cover approximately 25 million workers, which is one-half of all employees in private non-farm establishments. Moreover, unions increasingly stress both the creation of pension plans where none exist and increased benefits from current plans. Thus, during the recent United Auto Workers negotiations the union sought and received …
Unfair Representation As An Unfair Labor Practice, Michigan Law Review
Unfair Representation As An Unfair Labor Practice, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In its 1962 Miranda Fuel Co. decision, the National Labor Relations Board formulated a novel doctrine whereby it acquired jurisdiction over unfair representation complaints filed by union members in good standing on the theory that a union which fails to represent all of its members fairly commits unfair labor practices in violation of sections 8(b)(1)(A) and 8(b)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act. Formerly, unfair representation complaints filed by union members had been cognizable only by the courts, since unfair representation was not considered an unfair labor practice and, consequently, was outside the jurisdiction of the NLRB.
The Supreme Court And Labor Dispute Arbitration: The Emerging Federal Law, Russell A. Smith, Dallas L. Jones
The Supreme Court And Labor Dispute Arbitration: The Emerging Federal Law, Russell A. Smith, Dallas L. Jones
Michigan Law Review
Within the past few years, the United States Supreme Court has handed down a number of decisions of great significance to the labor dispute arbitration process. Some have been concerned with problems of arbitrability or arbitral authority; others with the availability and exclusivity of the arbitration process vis-a-vis alternative legal remedies for breach of the labor agreement; and still others with the effect of a breach of obligation by one party to the labor agreement upon the obligations of the other party. We propose in this article to analyze these decisions, to attempt to categorize the different kinds of challenges …
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 …
Subcontracting Clauses And Section 8(E) Of The National Labor Relations Act, David M. Ebel
Subcontracting Clauses And Section 8(E) Of The National Labor Relations Act, David M. Ebel
Michigan Law Review
The addition of section 8(e) to the National Labor Relations Act in 1959 jeopardized the validity of all subcontracting clauses-provisions in employer-union collective bargaining agreements which in some manner eliminate or condition the employer's right to contract out work or which penalize the exercise of that right. Although it was not the congressional intent that section 8(e) indiscriminately abolish all subcontracting clauses, this is the literal impact of the language used in the section.
The Worker And Three Phases Of Unionism: Administrative And Judicial Control Of The Worker-Union Relationship, Alfred W. Blumrosen
The Worker And Three Phases Of Unionism: Administrative And Judicial Control Of The Worker-Union Relationship, Alfred W. Blumrosen
Michigan Law Review
This article will examine the extent to which, and the methods by which, individual rights are protected in each of these three phases of union activity. We will see that the employee is well protected in his right to oppose political action of the union and has considerable legal protection for his rights to engage in internal union political struggles, but the employee has received little protection for his economic interests in collective bargaining between unions and employers. A recent decision by the NLRB, which will be examined in some detail, suggests that additional protection for individual economic rights in …
Labor Law-Duty To Bargain-Disclosure To Union Of Costs Of Noncontributory Group Insurance, Burton L. Raimi
Labor Law-Duty To Bargain-Disclosure To Union Of Costs Of Noncontributory Group Insurance, Burton L. Raimi
Michigan Law Review
In the course of bargaining for a new contract with an employer, the union requested information regarding the costs and benefits of a noncontributory group health insurance program which the employer provided for its employees. Petitioner provided a breakdown of the plan's benefits but refused to disclose its cost. Charging that this refusal amounted to a violation of the employer's statutory duty to bargain in good faith about "wages,'' the union procured the issuance of a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board. The trial examiner concluded that such costs were costs of production rather than wages and consequently did …
No-Strike Clauses In The Federal Courts, Frank H. Stewart
No-Strike Clauses In The Federal Courts, Frank H. Stewart
Michigan Law Review
One consideration will support several promises. A promisor may extract more than one promise in return for his single undertaking to do - or not to do. It depends upon his bargaining power. His single undertaking may be so valuable that several promises are necessary to induce him to act, or not to act. He is privileged to hold out for the best deal. The law does not examine his motives or reduce his demands. And from this arises the common- law principle that one consideration may support several promises.
Labor Law- Recognition And Organizational Picketing - Unfair Labor Practice Charge Is A Prerequisite To Initiation Of The Expeditied Election Procedure Of Section 8 (B)(7)(C) Of The Nlra, Steven P. Davis
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff union commenced picketing a previously-unorganized company for the purpose of gaining recognition as the bargaining agent of the employees. The next day the union filed a petition with the NLRB seeking an election. Five days later the individual plaintiffs, Reed and Whitney, filed an unfair labor practice charge under section 8 (b) (7) of the National Labor Relations Act for the express purpose of invoking the expedited election procedure provided by the statute. This charge was prepared by and filed with the sanction of the picketing union. The NLRB refused to grant the expedited election. In an action for …
Labor Law - Norris - Laguardia Act - Federal Courts Without Jurisdiction To Enjoin Strike In Support Of Demand That No Jobs Be Abolished Without Railiway Union's Consent, David G. Hill
Michigan Law Review
Respondent railroad sought authority from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to reduce the number of its station agents. Petitioner union not only contested but also demanded of the railroad that the following provision be added to the existing collective bargaining agreement: "No position in existence on December 3, 1957, will be abolished or discontinued except by agreement between the carrier and the organization." The commission thereafter found maintenance of the particular jobs to be wasteful and issued a mandatory order directing their abandonment. When the union prepared to strike in support of its demanded contract provision, the railroad sought …
Taxation-Federal Income Tax-Strike Benefits May Be Gifts, Christopher Cobb
Taxation-Federal Income Tax-Strike Benefits May Be Gifts, Christopher Cobb
Michigan Law Review
Taxpayer received assistance from a labor union while he was participating in a strike called by the union. The area in which he lived had become a distressed area as a consequence of the strike, and the union had established a general program of aid for strikers with no other source of income. Both before and after he joined the union payments were made to taxpayer under this program. Taxpayer sued for a refund of the income tax he payed on the value of the assistance so received, and the jury returned a verdict in his favor, finding the payments …
Unemployment Compensation - Labor Dispute Disqualification - Workers Unemployed By A Mult-Employer Lockout, James B. Blanchard S.Ed.
Unemployment Compensation - Labor Dispute Disqualification - Workers Unemployed By A Mult-Employer Lockout, James B. Blanchard S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Two unions of restaurant employees voted to strike the local restaurant industry in order to obtain a more favorable master contract with a restaurant owners' association. The unions executed this program by strategically calling strikes on only a few key restaurants. The association retaliated by notifying its members to lay off their employees in accordance with its previously announced policy to consider a called strike against one member a called strike against all members. The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board held that the union employees laid off in response to the association's notice were "voluntarily'' out of work and therefore …
Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Union's Unprotected Harassing Activites As A Refusal To Bargain In Good Faith, William Y. Webb
Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Union's Unprotected Harassing Activites As A Refusal To Bargain In Good Faith, William Y. Webb
Michigan Law Review
While bargaining for a new contract, the union announced that it would engage in a "work-without-contract" program designed to harass the insurance company employer into accepting its demands, in the event that no agreement was reached prior to the expiration of the existing contract. When that contingency occurred, the program was instituted consisting of such activities as refusing to write new business for a period, refusing to do customary duties, engaging in "sit-in mornings," soliciting policyholder support against the company, and mass demonstrations at the company's home office. The union continued to attend bargaining sessions, but it informed its members …
Internal Affairs Of Labor Unions Under The Labor Reform Act Of 1959, Archibald Cox
Internal Affairs Of Labor Unions Under The Labor Reform Act Of 1959, Archibald Cox
Michigan Law Review
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 has two main divisions. One deals with the internal affairs of labor organizations and, incidentally, with certain dishonest practices in labor-management relations tending to corrupt union officials. The other deals with labor-management relations as such. This article is confined to the first branch.
Labor Law - Arbitration - Necessity Of According Individual Employees Right To Independent Representation In Arbitration Proceeding, Alan E. Price
Labor Law - Arbitration - Necessity Of According Individual Employees Right To Independent Representation In Arbitration Proceeding, Alan E. Price
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs, employees of defendant corporation, were demoted from supervisory positions back into the bargaining unit. The collective bargaining agreement defined seniority as "an employee's length of service with the company in years, months and days." The employer credited plaintiffs with continuous seniority from the time they had originally begun work with the company in non-supervisory positions. Defendant union contended that time spent in supervisory positions should be excluded from seniority. The dispute was submitted to arbitration without plaintiffs being given notice of the proceedings or opportunity to participate. The arbitration award adopted the position urged by the union. Plaintiffs brought …
The National Labor Relations Act And Collective Bargaining, Nathan P. Feinsinger
The National Labor Relations Act And Collective Bargaining, Nathan P. Feinsinger
Michigan Law Review
The purpose of this paper has been to review the policy-making decisions of the National Labor Relations Board in seeking to effectuate the duty "to bargain collectively" under the National Labor Relations Act, in order to ascertain and appraise their direction.
Labor Law - Picketing - Peaceful Picketing For Recognition By Minority Union, Roger W. Findley S.Ed.
Labor Law - Picketing - Peaceful Picketing For Recognition By Minority Union, Roger W. Findley S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner union was certified as exclusive bargaining representative of an employees' unit in 1953. When contract negotiations faltered, the union called a strike and began picketing the employer's retail store. The picketing continued for two years during which time the employer permanently replaced the strikers with non-union employees. In 1955 the union lost a new representation election by a vote of 28 to 1 and was decertified. When the picketing persisted, the employer petitioned the National Labor Relations Board, charging the union with an unfair labor practice. The Board, after finding that the union's objective was exclusive recognition, held that …
The Law Of The Collective Agreement, Charles O. Gregory
The Law Of The Collective Agreement, Charles O. Gregory
Michigan Law Review
The Wagner Act contained no law governing collective agreements. Congress left their enforcement to the state and federal courts under the miserable body of common-law rules. Under various theories the courts worried about consideration, mutuality of obligation, duress and public policy aspects as if they were dealing with conventional contracts.
Labor Law - Arbitration - Power Of Arbitrator To Enjoin Union From Continuing Slowdown, Lawrence M. Kelly
Labor Law - Arbitration - Power Of Arbitrator To Enjoin Union From Continuing Slowdown, Lawrence M. Kelly
Michigan Law Review
An arbitrator, acting under a collective bargaining agreement which called for a "speedy arbitration" procedure, issued an award enjoining the unions from continuing a slowdown in violation of that clause of the agreement forbidding strikes, lockouts, and slowdowns. A Supreme Court order granted the employers' motion to confirm the award and overruled the unions' cross motion to vacate. The unions claimed that the arbitrator, in issuing the injunction, had exceeded the powers granted him under the agreement and had acted contrary to section 876a of the Civil Practice Act (the New York Anti-Injunction Act). The Appellate Division affirmed the order …
Labor Law - National Labor Relations Act - Power Of Nlrb To Order Employer To Withhold Recognition From Assisted Union Until Union Is Certified, John H. Jackson
Labor Law - National Labor Relations Act - Power Of Nlrb To Order Employer To Withhold Recognition From Assisted Union Until Union Is Certified, John H. Jackson
Michigan Law Review
The National Labor Relations Board found on complaint of a rival union that Bowman Transportation, Inc. had committed an unfair labor practice under section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act as amended, by assisting District 50 of the United Mine Workers (UMW). The Board thereupon ordered Bowman to cease recognizing District 50 until such time as District 50 had been certified by NLRB as the employees' bargaining representative, and to post notices accordingly. District 50 had not complied with the filing requirements of section 9(f, g and h) of the act, and consequently under the provisions of those sections …
Labor Law - Nlra - "Roving Situs" Picketing As Violation Of Section 8(B)(4)(A), William K. Muir Jr.
Labor Law - Nlra - "Roving Situs" Picketing As Violation Of Section 8(B)(4)(A), William K. Muir Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Respondent union sought to organize the crane and dragline operators of a manufacturer of ready-mixed cement and posted pickets about the local manufacturing plant. During the working day each of the employer's delivery trucks crossed the picket line at least twice. In addition, the union established a roving picket line which circulated about the manufacturer's trucks while they were making deliveries to customers at local construction sites. The roving picketing lasted only so long as the workers of the primary employer remained on the customer's premises. The pickets at all times stayed within six hundred feet of the trucks. The …