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The Labor Management Relations Act (known as the Taft-Hartley Act), passed on June 23, 1947, brought sweeping changes to labor-management relations. The Act affected the structure of the National Labor Relations Board and its administration, as well as the unfair labor practice provisions and representation election provisions of the law.
The Act, which was an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act (the Wagner Act), created an independent NLRB general counsel to be appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation. The general counsel would act as a prosecutor and supervise the agency’s attorneys, except those on the staffs of individual Board members and the trial examiners.
Management groups had criticized the Board’s seemingly dual role as prosecutor and judge. Under Taft-Hartley, the general counsel was to act as a prosecutor separate from and independent of the Board, which would continue its judicial functions.
The Board was expanded from three to five members and authorized to sit in panels of three members to discharge its responsibilities.
Labor policy preserved
Congress preserved the National Labor Relations Act’s national labor policy language encouraging collective bargaining, but added language that certain practices by unions that impair the free flow of commerce should be eliminated.
Section 7 allowing employees to participate in union and other concerted activity was retained intact in the revised law, but new language was added to provide that employees had the right to refrain from any or all 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. (Note: Current law requires that the most that can be required of employees is payment of dues to cover actual costs of representational activities.)
Union unfair labor practices
LMRA defined six additional unfair labor practices, reflecting Congress’ perception that some union conduct also needed correction. The Act was amended to protect employee rights from these unfair practices by unions.
The amendments protected employees’ Section 7 rights from restraint or coercion by unions, and said that unions could not cause an employer to discriminate against an employee for exercising Section 7 rights. They declared the closed shop illegal, but provided that employers could sign a union shop agreement under which employees could be required to join the union on or after the 30th day of employment. (Note: Current law requires that the most that can be required of employees is payment of dues to cover actual costs of representational activities. States may, however, ban union shop agreements for most employees and 23 “right to work” states have chosen to do so.)
The amendments also imposed on unions the same obligation to bargain in good faith that the Wagner Act had placed on employers. They prohibited secondary boycotts, making it unlawful for a union that has a primary dispute with one employer to pressure a neutral employer to stop doing business with the first employer.
Unions were prohibited from charging excessive dues or initiation fees, and from “featherbedding,” or causing an employer to pay for work not performed. LMRA contained a “free speech clause,” providing that the expression of views, arguments, or opinions shall not be evidence of an unfair labor practice absent the threat of reprisal or promise of benefit.
Election provisions
Several significant changes were made for representation elections. Supervisors were excluded from bargaining units, and the Board had to give special treatment to professional employees, craftsmen, and plant guards in determining appropriate bargaining units.
Congress also added four new types of elections. The first permitted employers faced with a union’s demand for recognition to seek a Board-conducted election. The other three enabled employees to obtain elections to determine whether to oust incumbent unions, whether to grant to unions authority to enter into a union shop agreement, or whether to withdraw union shop authorization previously granted. (The provisions authorizing the union shop elections were repealed in 1951).