Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 5/e

Unions and The Law

Learning Objective 3

1. Discuss the nature of the major federal labor relations laws.

Until about 1930, there were no special labor laws. Employers didn’t have to engage in collective bargaining with employees and were virtually unrestrained in how they treated unions. “Yellow dog” contracts, whereby management could require nonunion membership as a condition for employment, were widely enforced. Most union weapons—even strikes—were illegal.

This one-sided situation lasted in the United States from the Revolution to the Great Depression (around 1930). Since then, in response to changing public attitudes, values, and economic conditions, labor law has gone through three clear changes: from “strong encouragement” of unions, ...