Glossary of Labor Laws
For many years, the collective bargaining process as we know it today did not exist. Regulation of unions was governed by the courts, and these institutions were not sympathetic to the worker. The development of conspiracy theory in the early 1800's, the use of court-ordered injunctions to break strikes, and the application by the courts of anti-monopoly laws to unions (instead of corporations) clearly demonstrates the imbalance of the Judicial System.

Labor pressure and the poor economic conditions of the Depression pressured the federal government into passing legislation to correct some of the inequities. Today, people who work in the transportation industry are protected by a number of federal, state and local laws. These are summarized below:

Railway Labor Act - 1926
This law represented one of the first efforts of the federal government to develop a national labor policy. It established the right of railroad workers to join unions and bargain collectively without interference from employers, and through amendments, introduced penalties for its violation. In addition, the Act provides for dispute settlement and arbitration procedures. The National Mediation Board handles disputes in changes of contract. The National Railroad Adjustment Board, composed of 17 union appointees and 17 management appointees, makes final and binding decisions in disputes over the interpretation or application of contracts.

The Act was amended in 1936 to apply to airline carriers and their employees with one important exception. Instead of a National Adjustment Board to handle grievances, each air carrier and union must establish a System Board of Adjustment whose decisions would be final and binding.

National Labor Relations Act - 1935 (also called the Wagner Act)
The Wagner Act established the Principle that employees in private industry should be guaranteed the right to organize through secret ballot elections into unions and to bargain collectively. To provide this protection, the Act prohibited five types of employer conduct known as "unfair labor practices":

• Interference with employee rights of self organization and collective bargaining.
• Domination or interference with the formation or administration of a union.
• Encouragement or discouragement of union membership by discrimination in hiring, tenure, or conditions of employment.
• Discharge or discrimination against employee filing charges or giving testimony under this Act.
• Refusal to bargain collectively with the union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was set up to enforce the law and conduct secret ballot representation elections by which workers choose to be represented by a union.

Labor Management Relations Act - 1947 (also called the Taft-Hartley Act)
The Taft-Hartley Act, passed during the post-World War II strike wave, amended the Wagner Act with the intent of restraining workers and their unions. This anti-labor statute was enacted despite a veto by President Harry Truman and a groundswell of labor opposition.

Section 8(b) of the Act outlined six types of what was termed "unfair union practices" such as: refusal to bargain with an employer; charging excessive or discriminatory initiation fees; restraining employees in their right to join or refrain from joining a union; featherbedding, or causing discrimination for union activities. Secondary boycotts were prohibited. The closed shop, which required employees to be union members before they were hired, was declared illegal except in a small number of prehire agreements such as in the maritime trades. Section 14(b) of the Act empowered states to enact "right-to-work" laws which outlawed the union shop and maintenance of membership. The Act sets up a process by which employees could decertify their union and also provided for national emergency injunctions against legal contract strikes. Regulatory amendments to the Wagner Act required the filing of financial and constitutional reports from unions and outlined rules for union elections. Lastly, Taft-Hartley set up the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and required that 30 days before contract expiration, the agency must be notified that a labor dispute exists.

Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act - 1959 (also called the Landrum-Griffin Act)
This Act was passed as a result of a number of government investigation into union racketeering. A Bill of Rights for union members enforceable in Federal District Court, guarantees the right to attend, participate in, and vote at meetings and union elections, subject to reasonable union rules; freedom of assembly and speech regarding union affairs; right to notice and fair hearing before any disciplinary actions are taken against them by the union; the right to copies of the contract; and the right to be informed by the union of their rights under the law. Landrum-Griffin protects candidates challenging incumbents in a union election, and it requires each union to file annual financial reports with the Secretary of Labor.

Urban Mass Transportation Act - 1964 (Amended 1970)
The UMTA was passed to provide federal assistance to states, local government, and transit agencies in order to finance improvement in mass transportation systems. At that time, many private transit companies were going bankrupt and their services were picked up by public agencies. Since a high proportion of these private companies had been unionized, the federal government, under union pressure, inserted Section 13(c) into the Act. This section mandated that in order for any public agency to receive federal transit grants, the labor rights, privileges and benefits under existing contracts had to be preserved and continued. Furthermore, individual employees were guaranteed protection against a worsening of their positions with respect to their employment.

UMTA grants are provided to transit agencies in two categories:

• Capital grants, whereby the federal government will pay 80% of the cost of new equipment;
• Operating assistance, in which the federal government paid up to 50% of operating costs of one local transit system.

The present administration in Washington is currently attempting to gut the 13(c) labor protections, operating funds, and heavy rail capital projects.

Collective Bargaining Laws for Public Sector Employees
As of 1979, 36 states had passed legislation providing state or local government employees with the right to organize and bargain collectively. Many of our transit employees, who are public sector workers, are subject to this legislation. The strength of the public employee bargaining laws depends on the state's political and economic environment and the effectiveness of the occupational groups. Thus police and firefighters tend to have the most comprehensive statutes. Transit workers are also in a strong position because of the economic threat of a strike and the provisions of Section 13(c) of the UMTA. Most states' public employee statutes also include a ban on strikes, such as New York's Taylor Law, which also mandates strong penalties. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, does not ban strikes in its state collective bargaining law. State statutes, for the most part, do not include provisions for third-party final and binding arbitration of contract disputes.

Occupational Safety and Health Act - 1970
This landmark law, which applies to private sector employees, was passed by Congress to guarantee a safe and healthy workplace to all Americans. Under this statute, each employer has the general duty to furnish each of his employees employment and places of employment, free from recognized hazards causing, or likely to cause, death or serious physical harm. The employer has the specific duty of complying with safety and health standards outlined by the Act. According to the law, safety and health standards will be set to maintain a hazard-free workplace. A system of enforcement including inspections and penalties for non-compliance was also established. Our public sector employees are often covered by state laws which duplicate the Federal Safety and Health Act.

Employee Retirement Income Security Act - 1974 (also called ERISA)
This pension reform act was passed in order to end the abuse of workers' pensions by companies and program administrators. The law delineated mandatory rules for pension plan enforcement. It also established fiduciary rules, provisions for financial audit and standards for vesting of employee pension rights. A Pension Guarantee Corporation was created to insure plans against failure.

The following two pieces of legislation illustrate the current attack on working people and their unions under the guise of deregulation and greater competition in the market place:

Airline Deregulation Act -1978
Primarily concerned with liberalizing freedom of entry into the market for new interstate airlines and greater pricing flexibility of fares, this legislation has had severe repercussions in the airline industry. Firms are now virtually free to enter the air transportation business. They can discontinue service on unprofitable routes if alternative service exists or if the income on the route, including a subsidy, does not cover costs. Fares are no longer subject to CAB approval and this has resulted in job threatening fare wars on certain airline routes.

Deregulation has put the older established union-represented airlines at a distinct competitive disadvantage with the newer non-union carriers. The resulting financial pressures has created a collective bargaining climate characterized by employer calls for give backs and, in extreme cases, bankruptcies of certain airlines.

Northeast Rail Services Act - 1981
Passed in the Reagan-inspired climate of deregulation, this legislation attempted t undermine passenger and freight rail service by getting the government out of the picture.

Under the new law, Conrail, a government subsidized railroad, was forced to transfer its commuter obligations to an Amtrak subsidiary or to local and state commuter agencies. The rail line could also cut service much more easily under this law, leaving many smaller towns without any service whatsoever. In addition, Conrail must now meet two complex profitability tests in 1983, otherwise it could be subjected to sale to private interests.

For further information:

• Duane Beeler. Labor Law for the Union Officer. [Amazon Books]
• B. Feldacker. Labor Guide to Labor Law, Reston Publishing Company. [Amazon Books]
• C. Morris. The Developing Labor Law. BNA Educational Systems. [Amazon Books]
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