Chapter 13

Question 1

Beginning about 1842, what legal tool was used when labor disputes threatened?

Answer 1

Developed from the “ancient, powerful and honorable” equitable injunction.
When a labor dispute threatened, an employer could ask a court for a restraining order- this ordered employees either to go back to work or go away.
Very destructive to the union movement

Question 2

When was the American Federation of Labor created and who created it?

Answer 2

Created in 1885 by Samuel Gompers.

Question 3

When was the Congress of Industrial Organization born?

Answer 3

1935

it was an industrial union

Question 4

When did the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organization merge?

Answer 4

1955 – creating the AFL-CIO (current)

Question 5

Be able to list the five major labor-law statutes which form the statutory foundations of US labor law.

Answer 5

The Railways Labor Act, 1926
The Norris-LaGuardia Act, 1932
The Wagner Act, 1935
The Taft-Hartley Act, 1948
The Landrum-Griffen Act,1959

Question 6

Under the Railway Labor Act, what can the President of the United States order and when?

Answer 6

A 30-day injunction if a strike that is occurring imperils national welfare.

Question 7

What was the major thrust of the Norris-LaGuardia Act?

Answer 7

To divest the courts of injunctive powers in laber disputes, except if life or property were at risk. This limited agency liability of unionf for unlawful actions during strikes.

Question 8

The Wagner Act: What was the National Industrial Recovery Act and what year was it implemented?

Answer 8

1933, it was the first attempt at comprehensive federal regulation of the American labor-to-management relationship.
NIRA declared unconstitutional in 1935

Question 9

What became the real cornerstone of American labor legislation?

Answer 9

The National Labor Relations Act (The Wagner Act) it was the replacement for the NIRA

Question 10

What are the two basic provisions of the Wagner Act?

Answer 10

It gives employees the right to form unions and bargain collectively, and it forces employers to deal with unions and gives the federal government power to prohibit actions by employers that interfere with those rights.

Question 11

What Board did the Wagner Act create and what power did it have?

Answer 11

National Labor Relations Board, they had the power to declare illegal unfair labor practices

Question 12

How is a Union installed?

Answer 12

a union is installed when it is voted into office by the employees that want it to represent them.

Question 13

What is a “collective bargaining agreement?”

Answer 13

The employment contract. The parties bargain in good faith about wages, hours and working conditions. If they cant come to an agreement the employee makes work “without a contract” or go on strike.

Question 14

What amendment to the National Labor Relations Act did Congress pass in response to sweeping labor strikes after World War II?

Answer 14

The Labor-Management relations act, known as the Taft-Hartley Act

Question 15

What are the four major provisions of Labor-Management relations act, also known as the Taft-Hartley Act?

Answer 15

1. encouraged dispute resolutions, allowed the pres to apply to a court for an injunction ordering employees to go back to work for an “80 day cooling off period” to solve disputes
2. outlawed the ”closed shop” by which employers could only choose from a pool of applicants put forward by unions
3. created a new category of unfair labor practices by unions
   • disallowed them from coercing employees into joining the union
4. made illegal a “refusal to bargain in good faith”

Question 16

What is a “closed shop”, what is a “union shop”, and what are “right to work States?”

Answer 16

Closed shop: when the employers could only choose from a pool of applicants put forward by the union
Union shop: where all employees must eventually join the union
Right to work states: where no employee ever can be compelled to join a union

Question 17

What are the three noticeable trends regarding unions?

Answer 17

Tainted with violence, corruption
Ties to organized crime
They were operated in a high handed, autocratic manner

Question 18

When was the Fair Labor Standards Act passed?

Answer 18

October 24, 1938

Question 19

Be able to list and identify the three fundamental functions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Answer 19

Regulates minimum wage, maximum hours, and child labor

Question 20

What is the traditional rule in American labor law regarding job security?

Answer 20

Absent some agreement to the contrary, employees were free to quit whenever they wanted, and employers were free to fire them whenever they wanted.

Question 21

What was part of the response in 1935, to the creation of the wagner act, what did this response create, what was the basic plan of the response?

Answer 21

the response was the creation of the Social Security Act, part of the act created a federal state plan of unemployment insurance.
The plan imposes payroll taxes on covered employers to provide a fund, administered by the states, that qualified unemployed persons may draw a weekly check from.

Question 22

What Act did Congress pass to pay “old-age, survivors’, and disability insurance” to eligible recipients and what year was it passed?

Answer 22

The Social Security act, 1935

Question 23

When was the Family Medical Leave Act signed and what US President signed it?

Answer 23

1993, Bill Clinton

Question 24

Be able to identify the initials FMLA.

Answer 24

Family Medical Leave Act

Question 25

Who does the FMLA apply to?

Answer 25

Family Medical Leave Act

All employers with 50 or more employees

Question 26

What must a covered employer provide eligible employees under the FMLA?

Answer 26

Must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12 month period for one of four reasons.

Question 27

Be able to identify the four reasons unpaid leave must be granted under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Answer 27

For the birth and care of a newborn child
For placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care
To care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition
To take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health conditioned