LER401: The Law of Labor-Management Relations PREV LIR 401. Complete Study and Class Notes (52Pages)

HOW THE NLRA WORKS IN NON-UNION WORKPLACES THE NON-UNION WORKPLACE AND THE NLRA NLRA DOES protect the right of non-unionized employees to engage in “concerted activity” for mutual aid and pro tection Jeannette Corporation v. NLRB n Jeannette, PA (near Greensburg), employer enforced (unwritten) rule commanding its non-union employees, in effect, Don‟t Discuss Your Wages with Other Employees at Any Time (this is one form of what is known as a “Pay Secrecy Policy”) Did Employer‟s Rule Interfere Unjustifiably with Employees‟ Section 7 Rights and Thus Violate Section 8(b)(1)(A)? Jeannette Corporation case (continued) Emp‟r‟s Defenses – Employer‟s Justification #1 Jeannette Corporation case EXS. OF OTHER WORKPLACE RULES ILLEGAL UNDER NLRA 1. “Do not leave your workplace w/o specific permission to do so from your supervisor.” (Recall Washington Aluminum – this rule illegally applied) 2. ”Don‟t complain about our firm to representatives of our suppliers.” 3. “Don‟t talk about our firm to representatives of our customers.” 4. “Don‟t talk to the media, use social media, blog, text, etc. about matters involving the firm.” All of the above example are illegal to extent they ban employees from (in ex. 1) striking, (in exs. 2 and 3) telling employees of other firms about how the speaker‟s employer mistreats e‟ees; or (as in 4) communicating When management (or its law firm) subjects an employee to an investigatory interview, does that employee have an NLRA Section 7 right to When management (or its law firm) subjects an employee to an investigatory interview, does that employee have an NLRA Section 7 right to When management (or its law firm) subjects an employee to an investigatory interview, does that employee have an NLRA Section 7 right to When called into an investigatory interview, do NON-Union employees have Weingarten-like rights under the NLRA? Having learned of possible sexual harassment, nonunion employer initiated investigation, interviewing three employees. In first interview with each, none of three requested that a fellow employee accompany them ISSUE before the NLRB IBM Corp.: When a NONunion employer conducts a disciplinary interview, does the non-union employee have a Section 7 right to be accompanied by a fellow employee (for mutual aid and protection)? BM Corp (2004) – Policy Reasons for Decision of Three Board Members‟ “NO The Dissent in IBM Corp. - The Views of the Two Democratic Appointees IBM won the case. GC lost. Board dismissed the case against IBM Corp Sometimes, the words in the National Labor Relations Act do NOT address a topic definitively (as in IBM, “does „mutual aid and protection‟ include a fellow employee in a disciplinary interview?”) When Confronted with NLRB “Flip-Flops,” What Should an Appeals Court Do?