Labor Law 101:

Understanding the Basics

Courtney Shorts Attorney/Business Agent Local 767, Fort Worth, Texas

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Purpose

The purpose of this workshop is to familiarize the participants with

different terminology and principles used in unionized

workforces as well as the history of Labor and the importance of

Labor Unions.

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Objectives

! Present information

! Engage in dialogue

! Ask and Answer Questions

! Activity

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Employment Law Labor Law

What’s the difference?

Labor laws deal with groups of people and Employment Law deals with rights

of individuals. Labor Laws regulate Unions and Collective Action on the

part of workers to bring about change in working conditions and pay.

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Fair Labor Standards Act

!  National Policy on minimum wages and overtime payments for “covered” employers and employees.

!  What Does FLSA Provide? !   Federal Minimum Wage: $7.25/hour

!  Overtime: 1 ½ times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a work week

!   If State law or union agreement provided greater protection or pay to the employee, those provisions apply.

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Dues Check-Off

A contract clause authorizing the company to deduct union dues from paychecks of those members who so authorize deductions. The company then transfers the money to the union

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Bargaining Unit

A group of workers who bargain collectively with the employer. The unit may include all the workers in a single location or in a number of locations, or it may include only the workers in a single craft or department. Final unit is determined by the NLRB, or agreed to jointly by the union and the employer.

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Collective Bargaining

A process which workers, through their bargaining committee, deal as a group to determine wages, hours and other conditions of employment. Normally, the result of collective bargaining is a written contract which covers all workers in the bargaining unit.

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Collective Bargaining Agreement

Written, legally enforceable contract for a specified period, between the management of an organization and its employees represented by an independent union. It sets down and defines conditions of employment (wages, working hours and conditions, overtime payments, holidays, vacations, benefits, etc.) and procedures for dispute resolution. Also called labor agreement, union agreement, or union contract.

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White Paper Contract

Term used in the Teamsters Union to refer to collective bargaining agreements covering individual companies as opposed to national contracts such as National Master Freight Agreement and the UPS agreement.

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Grievance

Any type of worker complaint including violations of the collective bargaining agreement, violations of law, violations of employer policies, violations of fair treatment, and violations of past practices. The definition of a grievance is usually part of the contract, and therefore may vary from one contract to another.

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Strike

!  A work stoppage; the concerted refusal of employees to perform work that their employer has assigned to them in order to force the employer to grant certain demanded concessions, such as increased wages or improved employment conditions.

!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgd7_K5pCCU

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Right to Work States

States which have passed laws prohibiting unions from negotiating union shop clauses in their contracts with employers covered by the NLRA.

Not Required to be in the Union

Still entitled to Representation FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Union Shop Clause

! Everyone is a Union member

! Must join within a certain time period after hire

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Where does your State fall?

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National Labor Relations Act

! Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.

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Your Rights Under the Act !  Sec. 8. [§ 158.] (a) [Unfair labor practices by employer] 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 [section 157 of this title]; 

!  (2) to dominate or interfere with the formation or administration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other support to it; 

!  (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 

!  (4) to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee because he has filed charges or given testimony under this Act [subchapter]; 

!  (5) to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives of his employees, subject to the provisions of section 9(a) [section 159(a) of this title].

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Your Rights Under the Act, cont.

!  RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES Sec. 7. [§ 157.] Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in section 8(a)(3) [section 158(a)(3) of this title].

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National Labor Relations Board

Agency created by the National Labor Relations Act, 1935, and continued through subsequent amendment, whose functions are to define the appropriate bargaining units, to hold elections, to determine whether a majority of workers want to be represented by a specific union or no union, to certify unions to represent employees, to interpret and apply the Act's provisions prohibiting certain employer and union unfair practices, and otherwise to administer the provisions of the Act.

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National Labor Relations Board

! 5 Board Members

! Appointed by President of US to 5 year terms

! Broken down into 26 Regions

! Headquartered in Washington D.C.

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Unfair Labor Practice

Those employer or union activities classified as "unfair" by federal or state labor relations acts. Under the NLRA, employer unfair labor practices include employer threats against protected collective activity, employer domination of unions, discrimination against employees for collective activity, and employer failure to bargain in good faith with union representatives. Union unfair labor practices include failure to represent all members of the bargaining unit and failure to bargain in good faith.

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Complaint

! Formal papers issued by the NLRB to start an unfair labor practice hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The complaint states the basis for the Board's jurisdiction and the alleged unfair labor practice.

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Administrative Law Judge

! A civil service appointee of the National Labor Relations Board who conducts unfair labor practice hearings in the region where the cases originate.

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Weingarten Rights

The rights of employees covered by the NLRA to request union representation during investigatory interviews if they reasonably believe that the interview could result in their being disciplined. Weingarten rights also guarantee the rights of union representatives to assist and counsel employees during interviews which could lead to discipline.

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Origins of Duty of Fair Representation

& Teamsters position throughout history

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Duty of Fair Representation

A union's obligation to represent all people in the bargaining unit as fairly and equally as possible. This requirement applies both in the creation and interpretation of collective bargaining agreements. A union is said to have violated its Duty of Fair Representation when a union's conduct toward a member of a collective bargaining unit is arbitrary, discriminatory, or in bad faith. A union steward, for example, may not ignore a grievance which has merit, nor can that grievance be processed in a perfunctory manner. It should be noted, however, that the employee in the bargaining unit has no absolute right to have a grievance taken to arbitration. The union is obligated to give fair representation to all union members, and also to collective bargaining unit members who have not joined the union in "right-to-work" states or in public service units.

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Steele v. Louisville & Nashville R.R., 323 U.S. 192, 15 LRRM 708 (1944) !  So long as a labor union assumes to act as the statutory

representative of a craft, it cannot rightly refuse to perform the duty, which is inseparable from the power of representation conferred upon it, to represent the entire membership of the craft. While the statute does not deny to such a bargaining labor organization the right to determine eligibility to its membership, it does require the union, in collective bargaining and in making contracts with the carrier, to represent nonunion or minority union members of the craft without hostile discrimination, fairly, impartially, and in good faith. Wherever necessary to that end, the union is required to consider requests of nonunion members of the craft and expressions of their views with respect to collective bargaining with the employer and to give to them notice of and opportunity for hearing upon its proposed action.

FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY

Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 41 LRRM 2089 (1957)

!  This class suit was brought in a Federal District Court in Texas by certain Negro members of the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks on behalf of themselves and other Negro employees similarly situated against the Brotherhood, its Local Union No. 28 and certain officers of both

!  Petitioners were employees of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad at its Houston Freight House. Local 28 of the Brotherhood was the designated bargaining agents under the Railway Labor Act

!  A contract existed between the Union and the Railroad which gave the employees in the bargaining unit certain protection from discharge and loss of seniority. In May, 1954, the Railroad purported to abolish 45 jobs held by petitioners or other Negroes, all of whom were either discharged or demoted. In truth, the 45 jobs were not abolished at all, but instead filled by whites as the Negroes were ousted, except for a few instances where Negroes were rehired to fill their old jobs, but with loss of seniority.

!  Despite repeated pleas by petitioners, the Union, acting according to plan, did nothing to protect them against these discriminatory discharges and refused to give them protection comparable to that given white employees. The complaint then went on to allege that the Union had failed in general to represent Negro employees equally and in good faith.

!  The respondents point to the fact that under the Railway Labor Act aggrieved employees can file their own grievances with the Adjustment

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BROTHERHOOD OF RAILROAD TRAINMEN v. HOWARD

!  Negro employees such as respondent constituted a group called 'train porters' although they actually performed all the duties of white 'brakemen'; the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, bargaining representative of 'brakemen' under the Railway Labor Act, had for years used its influence in an attempt to eliminate Negro trainmen and get their jobs for white men who, unlike colored 'train porters,' were or could be members of the Brotherhood; on March 7, 1946, the Brotherhood finally forced the Frisco to agree to discharge the colored 'train porters' and fill their jobs with white men who, under the agreement, would do less work but get more pay.

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FMCS

!  Independent agency created by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 to mediate labor disputes which substantially affect interstate commerce.

!  Headquartered in Washington, DC.

!  10 regional offices and more than

!  60 field offices

!  The agency provides mediation and conflict resolution services to industry, government agencies and communities.

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Arbitration

A method of settling a labor dispute by having an impartial third party decide the issue. The decision of the third party arbitrator is usually binding.

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Oath

! A commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury.

! Who has testified under Oath?

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Award

The final decision of an arbitrator which is binding on both parties.

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Mediation

The efforts of a third party to help parties to reach agreement in a labor dispute. Mediators help clarify issues and suggest possible solutions.

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History of Labor Day

!  http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day

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FOR TRAINING PURPOSES ONLY