29 U.S.C. § 158 : US Code - Section 158: Unfair labor practices

Search 29 U.S.C. § 158 : US Code - Section 158: Unfair labor practices

(a) Unfair labor practices by employer
It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer -
(1) to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the
exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 157 of this title;
(2) to dominate or interfere with the formation or
administration of any labor organization or contribute financial
or other support to it: Provided, That subject to rules and
regulations made and published by the Board pursuant to section
156 of this title, an employer shall not be prohibited from
permitting employees to confer with him during working hours
without loss of time or pay;
(3) by discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment
or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage
membership in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing in
this subchapter, or in any other statute of the United States,
shall preclude an employer from making an agreement with a labor
organization (not established, maintained, or assisted by any
action defined in this subsection as an unfair labor practice) to
require as a condition of employment membership therein on or
after the thirtieth day following the beginning of such
employment or the effective date of such agreement, whichever is
the later, (i) if such labor organization is the representative
of the employees as provided in section 159(a) of this title, in
the appropriate collective-bargaining unit covered by such
agreement when made, and (ii) unless following an election held
as provided in section 159(e) of this title within one year
preceding the effective date of such agreement, the Board shall
have certified that at least a majority of the employees eligible
to vote in such election have voted to rescind the authority of
such labor organization to make such an agreement: Provided
further, That no employer shall justify any discrimination
against an employee for nonmembership in a labor organization (A)
if he has reasonable grounds for believing that such membership
was not available to the employee on the same terms and
conditions generally applicable to other members, or (B) if he
has reasonable grounds for believing that membership was denied
or terminated for reasons other than the failure of the employee
to tender the periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly
required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership;
(4) to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee
because he has filed charges or given testimony under this
subchapter;
(5) to refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives
of his employees, subject to the provisions of section 159(a) of
this title.
(b) Unfair labor practices by labor organization
It shall be an unfair labor practice for a labor organization or
its agents -
(1) to restrain or coerce (A) employees in the exercise of the
rights guaranteed in section 157 of this title: Provided, That
this paragraph shall not impair the right of a labor organization
to prescribe its own rules with respect to the acquisition or
retention of membership therein; or (B) an employer in the
selection of his representatives for the purposes of collective
bargaining or the adjustment of grievances;
(2) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate
against an employee in violation of subsection (a)(3) of this
section or to discriminate against an employee with respect to
whom membership in such organization has been denied or
terminated on some ground other than his failure to tender the
periodic dues and the initiation fees uniformly required as a
condition of acquiring or retaining membership;
(3) to refuse to bargain collectively with an employer,
provided it is the representative of his employees subject to the
provisions of section 159(a) of this title;
(4)(i) to engage in, or to induce or encourage any individual
employed by any person engaged in commerce or in an industry
affecting commerce to engage in, a strike or a refusal in the
course of his employment to use, manufacture, process, transport,
or otherwise handle or work on any goods, articles, materials, or
commodities or to perform any services; or (ii) to threaten,
coerce, or restrain any person engaged in commerce or in an
industry affecting commerce, where in either case an object
thereof is -
(A) forcing or requiring any employer or self-employed person
to join any labor or employer organization or to enter into any
agreement which is prohibited by subsection (e) of this
section;
(B) forcing or requiring any person to cease using, selling,
handling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in the products of
any other producer, processor, or manufacturer, or to cease
doing business with any other person, or forcing or requiring
any other employer to recognize or bargain with a labor
organization as the representative of his employees unless such
labor organization has been certified as the representative of
such employees under the provisions of section 159 of this
title: Provided, That nothing contained in this clause (B)
shall be construed to make unlawful, where not otherwise
unlawful, any primary strike or primary picketing;
(C) forcing or requiring any employer to recognize or bargain
with a particular labor organization as the representative of
his employees if another labor organization has been certified
as the representative of such employees under the provisions of
section 159 of this title;
(D) forcing or requiring any employer to assign particular
work to employees in a particular labor organization or in a
particular trade, craft, or class rather than to employees in
another labor organization or in another trade, craft, or
class, unless such employer is failing to conform to an order
or certification of the Board determining the bargaining
representative for employees performing such work:
Provided, That nothing contained in this subsection shall be
construed to make unlawful a refusal by any person to enter upon
the premises of any employer (other than his own employer), if
the employees of such employer are engaged in a strike ratified
or approved by a representative of such employees whom such
employer is required to recognize under this subchapter: Provided
further, That for the purposes of this paragraph (4) only,
nothing contained in such paragraph shall be construed to
prohibit publicity, other than picketing, for the purpose of
truthfully advising the public, including consumers and members
of a labor organization, that a product or products are produced
by an employer with whom the labor organization has a primary
dispute and are distributed by another employer, as long as such
publicity does not have an effect of inducing any individual
employed by any person other than the primary employer in the
course of his employment to refuse to pick up, deliver, or
transport any goods, or not to perform any services, at the
establishment of the employer engaged in such distribution;
(5) to require of employees covered by an agreement authorized
under subsection (a)(3) of this section the payment, as a
condition precedent to becoming a member of such organization, of
a fee in an amount which the Board finds excessive or
discriminatory under all the circumstances. In making such a
finding, the Board shall consider, among other relevant factors,
the practices and customs of labor organizations in the
particular industry, and the wages currently paid to the
employees affected;
(6) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver
or agree to pay or deliver any money or other thing of value, in
the nature of an exaction, for services which are not performed
or not to be performed; and
(7) to picket or cause to be picketed, or threaten to picket or
cause to be picketed, any employer where an object thereof is
forcing or requiring an employer to recognize or bargain with a
labor organization as the representative of his employees, or
forcing or requiring the employees of an employer to accept or
select such labor organization as their collective bargaining
representative, unless such labor organization is currently
certified as the representative of such employees:
(A) where the employer has lawfully recognized in accordance
with this subchapter any other labor organization and a
question concerning representation may not appropriately be
raised under section 159(c) of this title,
(B) where within the preceding twelve months a valid election
under section 159(c) of this title has been conducted, or
(C) where such picketing has been conducted without a
petition under section 159(c) of this title being filed within
a reasonable period of time not to exceed thirty days from the
commencement of such picketing: Provided, That when such a
petition has been filed the Board shall forthwith, without
regard to the provisions of section 159(c)(1) of this title or
the absence of a showing of a substantial interest on the part
of the labor organization, direct an election in such unit as
the Board finds to be appropriate and shall certify the results
thereof: Provided further, That nothing in this subparagraph
(C) shall be construed to prohibit any picketing or other
publicity for the purpose of truthfully advising the public
(including consumers) that an employer does not employ members
of, or have a contract with, a labor organization, unless an
effect of such picketing is to induce any individual employed
by any other person in the course of his employment, not to
pick up, deliver or transport any goods or not to perform any
services.
Nothing in this paragraph (7) shall be construed to permit any
act which would otherwise be an unfair labor practice under this
subsection.
(c) Expression of views without threat of reprisal or force or
promise of benefit
The expressing of any views, argument, or opinion, or the
dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic, or
visual form, shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor
practice under any of the provisions of this subchapter, if such
expression contains no threat of reprisal or force or promise of
benefit.
(d) Obligation to bargain collectively
For the purposes of this section, to bargain collectively is the
performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the
representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and
confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms
and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement,
or any question arising thereunder, and the execution of a written
contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either
party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to
a proposal or require the making of a concession: Provided, That
where there is in effect a collective-bargaining contract covering
employees in an industry affecting commerce, the duty to bargain
collectively shall also mean that no party to such contract shall
terminate or modify such contract, unless the party desiring such
termination or modification -
(1) serves a written notice upon the other party to the
contract of the proposed termination or modification sixty days
prior to the expiration date thereof, or in the event such
contract contains no expiration date, sixty days prior to the
time it is proposed to make such termination or modification;
(2) offers to meet and confer with the other party for the
purpose of negotiating a new contract or a contract containing
the proposed modifications;
(3) notifies the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
within thirty days after such notice of the existence of a
dispute, and simultaneously therewith notifies any State or
Territorial agency established to mediate and conciliate disputes
within the State or Territory where the dispute occurred,
provided no agreement has been reached by that time; and
(4) continues in full force and effect, without resorting to
strike or lock-out, all the terms and conditions of the existing
contract for a period of sixty days after such notice is given or
until the expiration date of such contract, whichever occurs
later:
The duties imposed upon employers, employees, and labor
organizations by paragraphs (2) to (4) of this subsection shall
become inapplicable upon an intervening certification of the Board,
under which the labor organization or individual, which is a party
to the contract, has been superseded as or ceased to be the
representative of the employees subject to the provisions of
section 159(a) of this title, and the duties so imposed shall not
be construed as requiring either party to discuss or agree to any
modification of the terms and conditions contained in a contract
for a fixed period, if such modification is to become effective
before such terms and conditions can be reopened under the
provisions of the contract. Any employee who engages in a strike
within any notice period specified in this subsection, or who
engages in any strike within the appropriate period specified in
subsection (g) of this section, shall lose his status as an
employee of the employer engaged in the particular labor dispute,
for the purposes of sections 158, 159, and 160 of this title, but
such loss of status for such employee shall terminate if and when
he is reemployed by such employer. Whenever the collective
bargaining involves employees of a health care institution, the
provisions of this subsection shall be modified as follows:
(A) The notice of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be
ninety days; the notice of paragraph (3) of this subsection shall
be sixty days; and the contract period of paragraph (4) of this
subsection shall be ninety days.
(B) Where the bargaining is for an initial agreement following
certification or recognition, at least thirty days' notice of the
existence of a dispute shall be given by the labor organization
to the agencies set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(C) After notice is given to the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service under either clause (A) or (B) of this
sentence, the Service shall promptly communicate with the parties
and use its best efforts, by mediation and conciliation, to bring
them to agreement. The parties shall participate fully and
promptly in such meetings as may be undertaken by the Service for
the purpose of aiding in a settlement of the dispute.
(e) Enforceability of contract or agreement to boycott any other
employer; exception
It shall be an unfair labor practice for any labor organization
and any employer to enter into any contract or agreement, express
or implied, whereby such employer ceases or refrains or agrees to
cease or refrain from handling, using, selling, transporting or
otherwise dealing in any of the products of any other employer, or
to cease doing business with any other person, and any contract or
agreement entered into heretofore or hereafter containing such an
agreement shall be to such extent unenforcible (!1) and void:
Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall apply to an
agreement between a labor organization and an employer in the
construction industry relating to the contracting or subcontracting
of work to be done at the site of the construction, alteration,
painting, or repair of a building, structure, or other work:
Provided further, That for the purposes of this subsection and
subsection (b)(4)(B) of this section the terms "any employer", "any
person engaged in commerce or an industry affecting commerce", and
"any person" when used in relation to the terms "any other
producer, processor, or manufacturer", "any other employer", or
"any other person" shall not include persons in the relation of a
jobber, manufacturer, contractor, or subcontractor working on the
goods or premises of the jobber or manufacturer or performing parts
of an integrated process of production in the apparel and clothing
industry: Provided further, That nothing in this subchapter shall
prohibit the enforcement of any agreement which is within the
foregoing exception.
(f) Agreement covering employees in the building and construction
industry
It shall not be an unfair labor practice under subsections (a)
and (b) of this section for an employer engaged primarily in the
building and construction industry to make an agreement covering
employees engaged (or who, upon their employment, will be engaged)
in the building and construction industry with a labor organization
of which building and construction employees are members (not
established, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in
subsection (a) of this section as an unfair labor practice) because
(1) the majority status of such labor organization has not been
established under the provisions of section 159 of this title prior
to the making of such agreement, or (2) such agreement requires as
a condition of employment, membership in such labor organization
after the seventh day following the beginning of such employment or
the effective date of the agreement, whichever is later, or (3)
such agreement requires the employer to notify such labor
organization of opportunities for employment with such employer, or
gives such labor organization an opportunity to refer qualified
applicants for such employment, or (4) such agreement specifies
minimum training or experience qualifications for employment or
provides for priority in opportunities for employment based upon
length of service with such employer, in the industry or in the
particular geographical area: Provided, That nothing in this
subsection shall set aside the final proviso to subsection (a)(3)
of this section: Provided further, That any agreement which would
be invalid, but for clause (1) of this subsection, shall not be a
bar to a petition filed pursuant to section 159(c) or 159(e) of
this title.
(g) Notification of intention to strike or picket at any health
care institution
A labor organization before engaging in any strike, picketing, or
other concerted refusal to work at any health care institution
shall, not less than ten days prior to such action, notify the
institution in writing and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service of that intention, except that in the case of bargaining
for an initial agreement following certification or recognition the
notice required by this subsection shall not be given until the
expiration of the period specified in clause (B) of the last
sentence of subsection (d) of this section. The notice shall state
the date and time that such action will commence. The notice, once
given, may be extended by the written agreement of both parties.