The Senate Democrats' current budget reconciliation bill includes one of the most important elements of the PRO Act: financial penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act.

Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) is a labor law enforced by the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Authority. It refers to certain actions taken by employers that go against the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935. Under section 7 of NLRA, employees are allowed rights by law, such as the right to self-organize, join or form labor organizations, bargain collectively, and choose their representatives.

by Brandon Magner | Labor Law Lite

It’s been a good eight days or so for those who wish to see the National Labor Relations Board enforce federal labor law as written:

An essential piece of the PRO Act, which would create monetary penalties for companies that violate workers’ union rights, appears to have been included in the Senate Democrats' current budget reconciliation bill.

So you and some of your coworkers have talked about how to organize a union to improve your working conditions. That is a bright idea, given that the typical union worker makes 19.4% more than a non-union worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and Federal Service Labor Management Relations Statute protect the rights of workers in interactions between employees, unions, and employers. Most importantly, these laws safeguard employees from undue influence or unfair treatment by an employer. Knowing these rights will help you recognize when to contact a lawyer that knows how to file an Unfair Labor Practice charge.

Unions give workers more power concerning important workplace matters such as pay, working conditions, and benefits. However, many workers do not fully understand their rights when it comes to forming and joining a labor union.

In this post, we’ll quickly give workers what they need to know about forming a union and how they can learn more about their rights.

by Brandon Magner | Labor Law Lite

It has been common wisdom since the 1960s that the National Labor Relations Board is a structurally deficient agency. It has a broad statutory mission to protect workers’ rights by encouraging the spread of collective bargaining across American industry, but it has little means of enforcing its mandate. The text of the National Labor Relations Act was immediately interpreted narrowly by the Supreme Court to not provide for any punitive fines, so our labor law is only remedial in nature. Employers learned to exploit this loophole, and as unions became smaller and weaker, there was less economic, social, and political blowback for employers who flagrantly violated the NLRA. It even became good business, as an entire cottage industry of expert union-avoidance consultants and law firms sprung up in the latter twentieth century to teach companies how to break the law without consequence.

A LaborLab/Centiment poll conducted between April 7 - 10 2021 found that 65% of workers under the age of forty are unfamiliar with their right to unionize.