National Labor Relations Act

NLRA

Private Sector Labor

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the regulations promulgated under it were enacted to help manage the relationship between private sector employers, employees, and labor unions. These labor laws protect employees' right to unionize. Furthermore, the labor laws protect the rights of both employers and employees to engage in certain protected activities, for example, strikes and lockouts. Almost all employers and employees engaged in businesses that effect interstate commerce are covered under the NLRA and are subject to the jurisdiction of its governing board, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

However, the NLRA does not apply to relations between government employers and their employees. Therefore, government employees do not have the same right to organize and join labor unions as non-government workers, even when engaged in professions where they would otherwise be able to join labor unions. Instead, employees employed by the Federal government are generally protected by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Act, which is governed by the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

Furthermore, certain professions where employment is quasi-governmental do not receive the full protections of the NLRA because a strike by the workers or a lockout by employers would have crippling effects on the economy. One example of such a profession is air traffic control. Another example is rail transportation workers, who are governed by their own laws and regulating board.

Although the NLRA was originally a shield to protect employers from abusing employees and to ensure safe working environments and decent pay for an underrepresented predominately blue-collar workforce, it has become a sword that can be used by employees and labor unions to cripple business. Big business is not the only part of the economic structure that is vulnerable to the demands of labor unions. While the NLRA prohibits employees or employers from engaging in unfair labor practices, even a fair labor practice can cripple businesses. Furthermore, it is not a violation of the NLRA for workers to strike because their employer is in business with a company that violates the NLRA. Because the right to strike is protected under the NLRA, the power of the courts to step in and resolve strikes is extremely limited.