The textbook talks about the Taft-Hartley Act, which amended the NLRA with vario

Question

The textbook talks about the Taft-Hartley Act, which amended the NLRA with various changes affecting the rights of employees and employers. Probably the most controversial part of the law is the creation of "right to work" laws.

23 states now have right-to-work statutes. These laws effectively make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. The notion of required union membership restricts an employee's right to freedom of association. Unions fight against these laws arguing that since they are required to represent all employees in the bargaining unit, all members of the bargaining unit should pay union dues. Otherwise employees who choose not to join the union will still receive the benefit of the union (for example, collective bargaining, filing grievances, etc.)

The NLRA was designed to strike a fair balance between employees and employers to foster more harmonious workplaces with less work stoppages and strikes. Do you think the Taft-Hartley Act and the notion of right-to-work laws maintains a fair balance between employees and employers?

Explanation / Answer

Taft-Hartley Act is the federal law of 1947 which prohibits certain unfair union practices and it requires the disclosure of some financial and political activities carried on by unions.

This act was passed for amending the NLRA or Wagner Act. NLRA only addressed unfair labor practices carried on by employers, but Taft-Hartley Act provided remedies for protecting employees from unfair practices by labor unions.

Right-to-work laws are a part of Taft-Hartley Act. It gives freedom to workers to choose whether to join a union or not. This law also makes it optional for employees to pay for the union membership fees or the dues whether they join union or not.

The Taft-Hartley Act which gave the six changes from NLRA is beneficial for the employees and employers, because it gives right to both of them to and act against any odds caused by the other. But the right-to-work laws are not proper, because it gives the right to enjoy benefits of union to even those employees who does not wish to pay the union dues or membership fees. This should not happen for equality purposes. If the member is a part of union he has to accept his union's dues and fees, otherwise the cost of operating a union and maintaining it will increase. Even if the businesses are given a choice to have or not have unions, it would lower the standards of safety for the employees in their workplace.

Thus, the amendments from NLRA in the form of Taft-Harley Act are beneficial but the right-to-work law has its pros and cons.

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