Hmmmm...Violation of the NLRA or Wagner Act of 1935

[ewagner]

Title: Wagner Act of 1935
Author: U.S. Government
Year Published: 1935
The Wagner Act of 1935

SEC. 7. Employees shall have the right of self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

SEC. 8. It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer-

(1) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 7.

(2) To dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it: Provided, That... an employer shall not be prohibited from permitting employees to confer with him during working hours without loss of time or pay.

(3) By discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing in this Act or in any other statute of the United States, shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor organization (not established, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in this Act as an unfair labor practice) to require as a condition of employment membership therein, if such labor organization is the representative of the employees in the appropriate collec tive bargaining unit covered by such agreement when made.

(4) To discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he has filed charges or given testimony under this Act.

(5) To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees.

emphasis mine.....

Apparently an International Labor Rights group has sent an "instructive" letter to the Wisconsin Legislature...

here's the linky thing:

http://www.truth-out.org/assault-collective-bargaining-illegal-says-international-labor-rights-group68423

[goddess40]

1. Why is this the only place I've read this?

Has it been repealed or overturned?

[ewagner]

2. As far as I know it is

still the law of the land....I'm checking court cases now...lots of work to do..

[LiberalFighter]

3. The NLRA does not cover airlines, railroads, agriculture, or government.

Who is covered by the Act?

Most employees in the private sector are covered by the NLRA.

However, the Act does not include coverage for all workers. It specifically excludes individuals who are:

* employed by Federal, state, or local government
* employed as agricultural laborers
* employed in the domestic service of any person or family in a home
* employed by a parent or spouse
* employed as an independent contractor
* employed as a supervisor (supervisors who have been discriminated against for refusing to violate the NLRA may be covered)
* employed by an employer subject to the Railway Labor Act, such as railroads and airlines
* employed by any other person who is not an employer as defined in the NLRA

[LiberalFighter]

4. Even though the NLRA (also known as the Wagner Act) does not cover public sector employees...

There is International law and our own U.S. Constitution. Most likely, each state constitution has rights spelled out that protects workers. Employee rights probably developed further with each precedent set.

While the NLRA covered US employees in private employment, the law protecting collective bargaining in both the public and private sectors has developed since 1935 to cover all workers "without distinction."

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The opening paragraph of the ICLR statement reads:

As workers in the thousands and hundreds of thousands in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio and around the country demonstrate to protect the right of public sector workers to collective bargaining, the political battle has overshadowed any reference to the legal rights to collective bargaining. The political battle to prevent the loss of collective bargaining is reinforced by the fact that stripping any collective bargaining rights is blatantly illegal. Courts and agencies around the world have uniformly held the right of collective bargaining in the public sector is an essential element of the right of Freedom of Association, which is a fundamental right under both International law and the United States Constitution.

[ewagner]

5. Thanks

This is a bit confusing if you simply read the Act...I'm still researching.

[LiberalFighter]

6. Personally, I don't think any employer should have a say about what the employees do when forming...

an organization. It's a violation of free speech and association.

Yet the government wants to decide how often they must have elections and how much if any their dues should be. There should be some good attorneys that can blow holes in the restrictions.


Maybe in the private sector they can also prevent states from using Right to Work laws when it involves representation of employees that work for companies that have workplaces in more than one state or even the fact that they sell their goods or services in more than one state.