Intro to Labor Relations

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Section 7: employees have the right to form or join a union AND the right to refrain from forming or joining a union.
Union Security: an agreement that requires employees to make certain payments to the union in order to retain their jobs.

The Right to Strike.
Economic strikers defined. They retain their status as employees and cannot be discharged, but they can be replaced by their employer.

Collective Bargaining defined in Section 8 (d)
Duty to bargain imposed on both employer and union. It is an unfair labor practice for either party to refuse to bargain collectively with the other. The obligation does not, however, compel either party to agree to a proposal by the other, nor does it require either party to make a concession to the other.

Duties of bargaining representative and employer.
Once a collective-bargaining representative has been designated or selected by its employees, it is illegal for an employer to bargain with individual employees, with a group of employees, or with another employee representative.

Unfair Labor Practices of Labor Organization
Section 8(b)(3) Refusal to Bargain in Good Faith: So, while a union may try in contract negotiations to establish wages and benefits comparable to those contained in other bargaining agreements in the area, it may not insist on such terms without giving the employer an opportunity to bargain about the terms.

Conclusion
The consequences of ignorance in these matters – formal proceedings that can be time consuming and costly, and that are often followed by bitterness and antagonism – are economically wasteful, and usually it is accurate to say that neither party really wins. It is an attempt to bring about more widespread awareness of the basic law and thus help the parties avoid these consequences that this material has been prepared and presented as a part of a continuing program to increase understanding of the National Labor Relations Act.