EMPLOYEES' RIGHT TO UNIONIZE
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects employees’ rights to unionize.
This act has created laws about what an employer cannot do pertaining to the unionization of employees.
If employers or senior managers engage in any of these activities, they will be in violation of the law as outlined in the NLRA and will be reported to the National Labor Relations Board.
According to the National Labor Relations Act (Section 7 & 8(a)(1)),
it is illegal for employers to engage in the following activities:
Conveying the message that selecting a union would be pointless or unnecessary. This includes implying that employees will not win any benefits from a union that their management hasn’t already been able to secure for them.
Coercively questioning employees about their own or coworkers’ union involvement or sympathies. It is illegal for an employer to ask an employee about who was involved in organizing the unionization efforts, who has been supportive of the union, who has been speaking to them about unionization, or any question trying to obtain information about who began or continued the workplace push for unionization, or about who is supportive of the union efforts.
Creating, enforcing, or maintaining rules that prevent employees from engaging with their rights to organize. This includes creating schedules where certain employees are not allowed to work together, isolating workers from one another, and preventing workers from leaving their work area (when it is reasonable to do so) to talk with employees in another work area.
Threatening workers with consequences if they unionize, including but not limited to telling employees their working conditions will worsen, their wages will be lowered, their hours will be cut, they will lose benefits, or their workplace will close.
Discharging, constructively discharging, suspending, laying off, failing to recall from layoff, demoting, disciplining, or taking any other adverse action against employees because of their protected, concerted union activities.
Threatening workers for engaging in group actions. Group activities include preparing to bring complaints from a group of workers to management and planning for an action by a group of workers (discussing demands, planning for bargaining, preparing for a legal strike, etc.). Employees cannot be threatened or reprimanded in any way for engaging in these group activities.
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Promising employees benefits for refusing the union. An employer cannot promise an employee higher wages, more benefits, a potential future promotion, or any other benefit if they refuse to vote in a union election, vote no in a union election, or otherwise refrain from union activities.
Withholding changes in wages or benefits during a union organizing campaign that would have been made had the union not been present.
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Prohibiting workers to talk about union activities during work time. So long as workers are allowed to talk about other non-work topics during work time, they must be allowed to discuss unionization.
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Polling employees to find out who is supportive of the union. Employers are prohibited from taking a poll or asking employees if they are supportive of the union in order to obtain information about the amount of support the union has.
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Spying on employees’ union activities. Employers are prohibited from going out of their way to observe union activities, including using security camera footage to watch employee activity for no other purpose than to view union activity. If an employer sees union activity, it must be because they were in the area for work-related duties. They cannot seek out areas where they believe they will see union-related activity in order to spy. Employers are also prohibited from creating the impression that they are spying on activities, including telling employees they have inside information or that employees are being watched via security cameras.
Photographing or videotaping employees engaged in union activities.
Soliciting employees to appear in a campaign video.
Denying off-duty employees access to outside non-working areas of the business, unless legitimate business reasons justify this denial.
Prohibiting employees from wearing union buttons, t-shirts, or any other insignia promoting the union.
Interviewing employees to prepare your defense in an unfair labor practice case, unless very specific guidelines for questioning are met.
Initiating or soliciting employees to sign a decertification or union-disaffection petition.