The ability for the federal government to regulate businesses’ activity is given in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 is known as the commerce clause; it states, “Congress shall have the Power…to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes” (Reed, 173). Through the commerce clause, the government is able to regulate business activity by the use of administrative agencies, which is defined as “a governmental regulatory body that controls and supervises a particular activity or area of public interest and administers and enforces a particular body of law related to that activity or interest” (Administrative Agency, 1). There are two types of regulatory authority that agencies may possess; quasi-legislative and/or quasi-judicial. Quasi-legislative means that agencies can make rules and regulations that have the same impact as a law created by federal legislation. Quasi-judicial authority gives agencies the power to make rulings, just like in federal courts.
This paper will focus on one particular agency, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NRLB was created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act. Besides creating the NLRB, the Act also provides three other key provisions:
1. Providing employees the right to select a union to act as their collective bargaining agent.
2. Outlawing certain conduct by employers that generally has the effect of either preventing the organization of employees or emasculating their unions where they do exist; these forbidden acts are called unfair labor practices.
3. Authorizing the NLRB to conduct hearings on unfair labor practice allegations and, if unfair practices are found to exist, to t...
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...se to be correct and will only analyze the record of the agency’s proceedings. In a judicial review of an agency’s ruling, the court does not “(1) reweigh the evidence, (2) make independent determinations of fact, or (3) substitute their view of the evidence for that of the agency” (Reed, 193). Therefore, if the record shows that the agency did not follow certain procedures or if they ignored certain facts, then the ruling can be overturned. It should be noted that it is very unlikely that a court will overturn a ruling by an agency.
Works Cited
“Administrative Agency - Legal Definition." Legal Definitions. Web. 09 July 2011.
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Reed, O. Lee, Peter J. Shedd, Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, Jere W. Morehead. The Legal and
Regulatory Environment of Business. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Print
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Show MoreSloane. A. A., Witney, F. (2010). LABOR RELATIONS (13th editions). Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ
Bennett-Alexander, Dawn D. & Hartman, Laura P. (2001). Employment Law for Business (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing. Downloaded February 4, 2008 from the data base of http://www.eeoc.gov
Marshall, Shelley, 2004. Enterprise Bargaining, Managerial Prerogative and the Protection of Workers Rights. An Argument on the Role of Law and Regulatory Strategy in Australia under the Workplace Relations Act 199, Vol.22(3), , p.299.
The act put a stop to many unfair labor practices started by employers. The Wagner Act deemed it “unfair” for managements to “interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees” in exercising their now legally sanctioned right of self-organization (Sloane, Whitney, pg. 87.) It also ensured that employers could not discriminate on an employee based on the employees’ union involvement, in regards to hiring and firing. It also forced employers to bargain with their employees’ representatives.
Labor unions have been in America for a very long time. There are many unions in a myriad of different fields. Labor unions were and are used to allow for equal treatment of workers. Employers always want to maximize their profits and they try to give the least to get the most in return. For reasons such as this is why unions were formed. Generally a union boss is appointed or hired to protect the rights and privileges of the employees. The union boss is generally very representative of the demographics of the workers. The leader of the employees needs to know what they want and what is fair for them and this is why he tends to represent one type of work force, such as the teachers union. This type of representation is made easier when most of the workers come from the same background. Background meaning family size, education, race, etc. Labor unions have helped shape the American work force, as have the backgrounds of the men and women who have worked in them. America was founded on diversity and the freedom to choose. Many different backgrounds have found their way into America and labor unions. As stated earlier, labor unions have people of the same background in them. America’s first settlers were generally of the same background and because of that, so were the members of the first labor unions. As the United States expanded so did the work force and the diversity in it. Diversity and understanding the challenges and benefits is what enables America to be great. In the pages of this paper we are going to look at the change in the make-up of labor unions by the entrance of African-Americans and how they have influenced America and the labor unions for the better. This paper is and expansions on my paper “A Shield Against the Power of Industrial Capitalism”.
Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).
Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
The disadvantages of union membership are viewed from the employee and employer perspective. Through the employee lens, the disadvantages manifest in the form of fees, loss of autonomy, and less collaborative work environment. As part of the union, you surrender many of your individual rights in exchange for the organized results that can potentially manifest through the collective bargaining process. Therefore, there isn’t any assurance that your individual concern will even be addressed.
Tomlins, C. L., & King, A. J. (1992). Labor law in America: Historical and critical essays.
In this essay I’ll write about union membership, membership trends, the two types and levels, and the importance of unions. I’ll also discuss some of the negative sides of unionization in corporate America today.
Labor relations emerged as response towards combating the economic unrest that accompanied the 1930 Great depression. At this period, massive unemployment, decreasing salary and wages, and over competition for jobs despite poor working conditions, was being experience; especially in the US. In turn employees were aggravated and therefore resorted to labor strike that often escalated to violence. To avoid such incident that could potentially harm further an ailing economy, the US government set precedent by passing their first related Labor relationship act, also referred to as the Wagner act. This act excluded public sector and some employees in the informal sector, farm workers to be specific. However, the progressive change in business and labor environment, necessitated changes in the labor laws to ensure they are more inclusive (Haywood & Sijtsma, 2000).
When it comes to contract negotiations, labor unions may differ from one and another throughout the different industries, but they usually share the same goals when it involves contract negotiations (Sloane & Witney, 2010). During these procedures, demands are usually made by from both parties, the employer and the union; this processes main goal is to negotiate a written agreement between each other covering a multitude of issues and concerns (Sloane & Witney, 2010). These talks are typically the most confrontational part of the relationship between labor unions and management, especially when it comes to wage issues (Mayhew, n.d.). This author will take a look the wages and wage-related issues, employee benefits, institutional issues, administrative clauses, and make recommendation that will would prevent wage-related grievances from happening.
Holley, William H, Kenneth M. Jennings, and Roger S. Wolters. The Labor Relations Process. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
... with the aggrieved worker and representative meeting with the supervisor involved, followed by an appeal system with strict time limits and ultimately ending in binding arbitration. When management and the union cannot resolve a grievance submitted by a union, the union must decide whether to proceed to the final step of the grievance procedure: arbitration. Arbitration is an adversary proceeding like a trial in court. An arbitrator’s function is usually to interpret the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, not to apply his or her standards of what is right in a given situation. The courts have sought to compel labour and management to a peaceful resolution of grievances through arbitration. The Supreme Court has given support to the arbitration process in a series of decisions, and judicial deferral to arbitration has become a basic tenet of national labour policy.
The laws and regulations surrounding Industrial Relations since the 1900’s have, at each reform, placed tighter constraints on the amount of power unions are able to exert. The reforms have also radically increased managerial prerogative, through an increased use of individual bargaining, contracts and restrictions imposed on unions (Bray and Waring, 2006). Bray and W...