Regulatory system encourages employers to take the offensive

It may be time to recognize that the structure and processes of the industrial relations regulatory system are not well-suited to the reality of labor-management relations. Employers have a greater opportunity than unions to change the state of the law because of their power to initiate actions. In...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly labor review 1983-04, Vol.106 (4), p.25-26
Main Authors: Roomkin, Myron J., Block, Richard N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conference Papers
Employee relations
Employees
Employers
Employment
General counsel
Good faith
Labor
Labor management relations
Labor regulations
Labor relations
Labor unions
Legal systems
Litigation
Management Systems
Regulation
Wagner Act 1935-US
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Summary:It may be time to recognize that the structure and processes of the industrial relations regulatory system are not well-suited to the reality of labor-management relations. Employers have a greater opportunity than unions to change the state of the law because of their power to initiate actions. In addition, employers can maintain good faith conduct while the actions are being adjudicated, thus imposing costs on the union or its members. Employers can take advantage of the case-by-case approach to adjudication to distinguish their case from others, eventually bringing about alterations in doctrines. Unions have a greater disincentive to explore the legality of their actions, since union respondents, under Section 8(b), cannot maintain actions pending a dispositive legal determination, as employers can under Section 8(a) of the National Labor Relations Act. When employers aggressively and opportunistically follow their own self-interest, the labor-relations management system cannot cope. Unions should have the same opportunities for redress through the legal system as employers, so that they may get their good faith beliefs litigated.
ISSN:0098-1818
1937-4658