[IASHRM] Right to Work History Info

[Larry Herzog]

Right to Work 

 

In 1947, the Taft Hartley Act was passed by US Congress.   While the
legislation did several things, four of the most controversial were to:

*	outlaw what was known as the "closed shop", and 
*	grant "exclusive representation" status to unions organized in a
workplace, and
*	instilled the "duty of fair representation" upon unions, and
*	allowed states to prohibit union security agreements.

 

Closed shop allowed unions to require that employees and prospective
employees be actual members of the union both before they were hired and
during their employment.  Taft  Hartley outlawed this practice, instead
allowing for the less formidable "union shop".  Union shop allows for unions
to require that all employees be members of the union after they are hired.


 

Over the years, the US Supreme Court and many state courts have determined
that a person cannot be compelled to be a union member, but they could be
compelled to pay union dues.  Furthermore, the Courts recognized that, while
not specifically contained in the Taft Hartley Act, "agency shop"
arrangements were also authorized.  

 

Agency shop allows unions to charge non-union members fee, sometimes equal
to the amount of union dues, for the services the union provides (collective
bargaining activities, etc).  Occasionally, the agency fee is less than the
amount of actual dues.  This is where the term "fair share" is derived.  The
unions believe that non-members should pay their proportionate share of the
costs associated with collective bargaining.

 

The Taft Hartley Act granted unions a monopoly-like power: unions were given
the ability to be the "exclusive representative" of a bargaining unit within
a workplace.  This means that once a particular union has organized and been
designated as the exclusive representative by a vote of the employees, the
employer can only negotiate with that union representative.  Employers are
prohibited from negotiating employment terms, salaries, etc. with other
unions.  More importantly, this also forbids employers from negotiating
directly with employees - even the ones who did not vote for union
representation and are not members of the union. 

 

In exchange for receiving the ability to be the exclusive representative of
a bargaining unit, the unions are required to represent all employees in the
bargaining unit - whether they are dues paying members or not.  This is
called the "duty of fair representation."

 

In 28 states, unions are permitted to charge some type of fee (dues, agency
fees, or "fair share" fees) to non-members.  In the 22 states that have
enacted Right to Work laws, unions are not permitted to charge non-members
any type of fee - whether it be dues, agency fees or so-called "fair share"
fees.  These states prohibit union security agreements.

 

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