Question 1

Dempsey Foods is a large meat processing plant located in the Midwest. The company has been very concerned about safety in the plant and so it organizes a group of employees, selected by the plant manager, to ask other employees what can be done to improve safety. After talking with other employees, the safety group tells the plant manager safety would be improved by increasing wages, cutting hours, and buying new safety equipment. The plant manager asks the group whether the employees would be happy with an increase in wages and some new safety procedures. The safety group checks with the other employees before telling the plant manager those changes are acceptable. The plant manager implements the changes. This exchange between the plant manager and the safety group would be likely considered illegal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act (NLRA) protects the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers. The Act prohibits employers from interfering with these rights, including by forming or dominating employee committees that are not truly representative of the employees' interests. In this case, the safety group was selected by the plant manager and was not truly representative of the employees' interests. The plant manager's actions in asking the safety group to check with the other employees before telling him whether the changes were acceptable were also an attempt to interfere with the employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Question 2

The National Labor Relations Board has two branches, a general counsel's office and a five-member board of elected officials.

Accepted Answer

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) does have two main components: a General Counsel's office and a five-member Board. However, the members of the Board are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, not elected.

Question 3

The Wagner Act (NLRA) makes it illegal for an employer to designate a representative of the employees in negotiations over wages, hours, and working conditions.

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act, also known as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), prohibits employers from interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of their rights to organize, form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. This includes making it illegal for an employer to designate or choose a representative for the employees in negotiations over wages, hours, and working conditions, as it would interfere with the employees' rights to choose their own representatives.

Question 4

The Railway Labor Act could be described as a substantive, rather than as a procedural law, in that it allows the government to dictate certain outcomes of negotiations and grievance processes.

Accepted Answer

The Railway Labor Act primarily establishes the process for labor negotiations and dispute resolution in the railway and airline industries, focusing on procedures rather than dictating specific outcomes.

Question 5

According to the Wagner Act (NLRA), an employer must recognize and treat a union as the representative of all employees (even those that did not vote for the union) if the union has majority support of the employees.

Accepted Answer

This is known as the "majority rule" provision of the NLRA. Once the union has demonstrated majority support, the employer must negotiate with the union on behalf of all employees, even if some employees did not vote for or support the union.

Question 6

The Wagner Act (NLRA) was distinctly different from the NIRA in that it explicitly outlined illegal activities of employers with respect to their interference in unionization rights and provided for the creation of an independent government agency whose job it is to enforce the law.

Accepted Answer

The statement accurately describes the differences between the Wagner Act (NLRA) and the NIRA. The Wagner Act not only recognized workers' right to form and join unions but also prohibited employers from committing certain unfair labor practices and established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce the law. The NIRA, on the other hand, focused on industrial recovery and did not have provisions for protecting the rights of workers or establishing an independent agency to enforce labor laws.

Question 7

Northern Lights is a large manufacturing company that makes lighted signs and kiosks for major retailers and businesses. In an attempt to control the company's exposure to negative publicity through social media, the Director of HR issues a blanket policy prohibiting employees from posting any information about the company on their social media pages. The company's policy would be considered legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Accepted Answer

The blanket policy prohibiting employees from posting any information about the company on their social media pages would likely be considered a violation of Section 7 of the NLRA, which protects employees' rights to engage in protected concerted activity for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Prohibiting employees from discussing or criticizing their working conditions or wages on social media could be seen as interfering with this protected right.

Question 8

The Wagner Act (or NLRA) is partially based on the assumption that individual workers and management are equals in the bargaining process.

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act of 1935) is based on the assumption that there is an inherent inequality of bargaining power between individual workers and employers, and it aims to level the playing field by promoting collective bargaining and protecting workers' rights to organize and unionize.

Question 9

According to the Wagner Act (NLRA), if two employees walk off the job and proceed to picket their employer's place of business to protest unsafe working conditions, the employer is not allowed to retaliate against them .

Accepted Answer

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, protects employees' right to engage in concerted activities for their mutual aid or protection, such as going on strike or picketing to protest unsafe working conditions. If two employees walk off the job and picket their employer's place of business for this reason, the employer is not allowed to retaliate against them under the NLRA.

Question 10

Frank is a supervisor at a major big box retail company. He learns that several of the employees have been meeting to discuss the possibility of unionizing the store. Frank approaches the leaders of the group and offers an immediate 2% pay increase for all employees, with an additional 2% to follow next year, if they agree to stop their organizing activity. Frank's actions are legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Accepted Answer

Frank's actions violate the Wagner Act (NLRA) which prohibits employers from offering or making any bribes, threats, or other coercive actions to prevent employees from organizing or joining a union. Offering a pay increase in exchange for abandoning unionization efforts is considered an unfair labor practice.

Question 11

The National Labor Relations Board has responsibility for conducting union representation elections and enforcing the NLRA's unfair labor practice provisions.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency that is responsible for conducting elections to determine whether workers want to be represented by a union, and for investigating and remedying unfair labor practices committed by employers or unions. This is part of the NLRB's mandate under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is the primary federal law governing labor relations in the private sector.

Question 12

U.S. labor law protects the right for a group of workers in a given workplace to be represented by more than one union.

Accepted Answer

U.S. labor law typically allows for only one union to represent a group of workers in a given bargaining unit to ensure clear and effective collective bargaining.

Question 13

Spying on union representatives or employees who are attempting to unionize is a violation of Section 8(a)(3) of the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Accepted Answer

Spying on union representatives or employees who are attempting to unionize is considered a violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as it interferes with, restrains, or coerces employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act, rather than Section 8(a)(3), which deals with discrimination against employees for union involvement.

Question 14

Four employees engage in a spirited Facebook exchange complaining about their company's poor pay, benefits, and safety record. Because the employees' actions are protected under the Wagner Act (NLRA), the company cannot punish them for the posts.

Accepted Answer

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also known as the Wagner Act, protects employees' rights to engage in collective bargaining, union activities, and discussing work conditions, pay, and benefits. Therefore, the employees' Facebook exchange is protected under the NLRA, and the company cannot punish them for it.

Question 15

The Wagner Act (NLRA) is intended to protect the rights of workers to, as a group, talk to their employer about wages, hours, and working conditions even when they are not part of a union.

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act) was enacted in 1935 to protect the rights of workers to form and join unions, and to engage in collective bargaining with their employers. This includes the right to discuss wages, hours, and working conditions as a group, even if they are not part of a union. Therefore, the statement is true.

Question 16

Under the Wagner Act (NLRA), the only time workers are entitled to union representation is when the union has the support of the majority of workers at the workplace.

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act (NLRA) allows workers to form, join, or assist unions and to engage in collective bargaining through representatives of their own choosing, regardless of whether a majority supports the union; however, for a union to be officially recognized as the bargaining representative, it must have the support of the majority of workers.

Question 17

From the perspective of mainstream economics, the Wagner Act (NLRA) is inadequate for challenging the power of capital and therefore does not do enough to empower labor.

Accepted Answer

The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act of 1935) is considered a cornerstone in U.S. labor law, significantly empowering labor by establishing the legal right for employees to have unions and engage in collective bargaining with employers. This act shifted the balance of power towards labor by legally protecting workers' rights to organize and negotiate with employers, challenging the power of capital by providing a structured framework for labor relations.

Question 18

The Wagner Act's provision for exclusive representation by unions was largely aimed at curtailing company-dominated unions.

Accepted Answer

The provision for exclusive representation was implemented to prevent company-dominated unions and give employees the right to choose their own representative union for collective bargaining.

Question 19

At a local restaurant one evening, a supervisor from a large manufacturing plant is seated in a booth directly behind four employees of the plant she works at. She overhears these employees discussing the possibility of unionizing the plant and stays to learn more about their plans. The next day, she tells her box about what she has learned. The supervisor's actions are legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Accepted Answer

The supervisor's actions are not legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA). The NLRA prohibits supervisors from spying on or coercing employees in their union activities. The supervisor could face disciplinary action or legal consequences for her actions.

Question 20

The concept of exclusive representation was introduced into the Wagner Act (NLRA) primarily to ensure that multiple unions did not fight over the right to represent the same group of employees.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The concept of exclusive representation was introduced...

Quiz 4: Labor Law