Sophia Serrao
Fri, 07/07/2023
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was enacted on July 5, 1935. It established the National Labor Relations Board and addressed relations between unions and employers in the private sector. The NLRA encourages collective bargaining by protecting workers’ freedom of association and protects workplace democracy by providing employees at private-sector workplaces the right to seek better working conditions and designate their representatives without a fear of retaliation.
Congress enacted the NLRA in response to the Supreme Court finding the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional in the 1930s, which led to upheaval within organized labor and an increase in strikes involving employees trying to form unions. Those strikes were often confronted by anti-union employers and their security forces. Congress, in enacting the NLRA, intended to guarantee employees the right to form, join, and assist labor organizations, and to engage in collective bargaining. After its enactment there was a large surge in union membership and the NLRA has continued to aid in union representation nationwide.
The NLRA applies to all employers involved in interstate commerce except airlines, railroads, agriculture, and government. This means that the NLRA applies to most private sector employers, including non-profits, non-union businesses, and business in states with “right to work” laws. The constitutionality of the NLRA was upheld initially by the Supreme Court in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp in 1937.
The NLRA is enforced through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). An independent federal agency, the NLRB ensures workers may exercise their rights under the NLRA without any interference from employers or unions. Generally, the NLRB safeguards workers’ right to join together to improve their wage and working conditions, with or without union involvement.
Some of the rights granted by the NLRA and enforced through the NLRB include the right to organize and to strike because the NLRA prohibits employers from interfering with or coercing employees in the exercise of their right to organize, form, or join a labor organization for collective bargaining purposes. Employees are also protected from interference when working together to improve the terms and conditions of their employment, even if they are not formally bargaining collectively.
The NLRA also grants employees the right to communicate about their wages. Further, Union-represented employees also have a right to have a union representative present, upon their request, during an interview that could lead to a disciplinary action.
The NLRA, through the NLRB, also protects employees against retaliation for exercising, or not exercising, their rights under the law.
MSE represents labor unions and their members across the country, as well as workers in all types of employment disputes.
