Right-To-Work Law in the United States
Right to Work Law
29 U.S.C. § 164 : US Code – Section 164: Construction of provisions
This description of the Right to Work Law tracks the language of the U.S. Code, except that, sometimes, we use plain English and that we may refer to the “Act” (meaning Right to Work Law) rather than to the “subchapter” or the “title” of the United States Code.
U.S. Code Citation
U.S. Code Section and Head
- United States Code – Section 164
- Head of the Section:
Construction of provisions
Text of the Section
(a) Supervisors as union members Nothing herein shall prohibit any individual employed as a supervisor from becoming or remaining a member of a labor organization, but no employer subject to this subchapter shall be compelled to deem individuals defined herein as supervisors as employees for the purpose of any law, either national or local, relating to collective bargaining. (b) Agreements requiring union membership in violation of State law Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed as authorizing the execution or application of agreements requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment in any State or Territory in which such execution or application is prohibited by State or Territorial law. (c) Power of Board to decline jurisdiction of labor disputes; assertion of jurisdiction by State and Territorial courts (1) The Board, in its discretion, may, by rule of decision or by published rules adopted pursuant to subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, decline to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute involving any class or category of employers, where, in the opinion of the Board, the effect of such labor dispute on commerce is not sufficiently substantial to warrant the exercise of its jurisdiction: Provided, That the Board shall not decline to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute over which it would assert jurisdiction under the standards prevailing upon August 1, 1959. (2) Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to prevent or bar any agency or the courts of any State or Territory (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands), from assuming and asserting jurisdiction over labor disputes over which the Board declines, pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, to assert jurisdiction.
Right-To-Work Law
Introduction to Right-To-Work Law
Right-To-Work Law, in U.S. labor law, a state law that prohibits union membership as a condition of employment. A union-shop agreement, even if qualified and permitted by the National Labor Relations Act, is not valid in a state that has prohibited such an agreement. In some states, unions have secured agency-shop clauses, which require nonunion employees to pay the union fees equivalent to union dues and initiation fees as their cost of representation, because they receive all benefits that the union has won under the collective bargaining agreement. Most right-to-work laws have prohibited such payments. The U.S. Supreme Court has held further that an agency-shop clause is the equivalent of a union-shop clause and may therefore be prohibited. In Indiana, however, the courts have held that the agency-shop clause did not violate the right-to-work law of that state, which prohibited membership as a condition of employment but did not prohibit agency fees.” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Right-To-Work Law in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia