This research examines the concepts and practices of labor union organizing, collective bargaining, and arbitration. This examination is performed within the context of labor law in the United States at both the federal and state levels. Where required for illustration of state level labor law, the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are cited.
In the United States, labor law is, essentially, a federal matter, and the government arbiter between management and labor is the National labor Relations Board (NLRB). One result of this approach is a uniform application across the country of rules governing labor management relations. The states are able to exercise little original jurisdiction in labor management relations (the most notable example of state jurisdiction are the so called right to work laws, which effectively outlaw the closed shop in some states.
Labor unions gain the right to represent workers employed by specific firms through the process of certification. Certification is the formal declaration by a government labor relations board that a specific labor union is the recognized bargaining agent for a specific group of workers at a specific employing firm. This formal certification is typically made following the conduct of a certification election, which is supervised by the appropriate labor relations board.
Labor union membership in the United States has been on the decline for the better part of three decades, with unionized workers accounting for only approximately 12.4 percent of the private sector workforce and 16.5 percent of the combined private sector and public sector workforce. In 1950, more than 40 percent of the total work force was unionized, and more than one half of the non supervisory workers in non farm establishments were union members.
Decertification is provided for under labor union law in the United States, and the process has gained considerable ground in the Uni...