The Legality of Employee-Participation Programs in Unionized Firms

Bibliographic Data

ID3530282
AuthorsDonna Sockell (corresponding author)
Year1984
Volume37
Issue4
Pages541-556
Publication date1984-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIndustrial and Labor Relations Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0019-7939 • E-ISSN: 2162-271X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/001979398403700405
OpenAlexW2002294133
LanguageEN
Citations received6

This paper focuses on the legal status of employee-participation programs, such as quality circles, that coexist with but are not controlled by unions — a situation occurring in U.S. industry with considerable frequency despite the objections of some union leaders. Although no cases have yet been heard on this precise question, the author relies upon an analysis of leading cases interpreting the scope of the exclusivity doctrine and the definition of labor organization, as well as the legislative histories of the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management Relations Act, to interpret the legal status of these programs. She concludes that if a union filed a 8(a)(5) charge against a unionized firm that is dealing with its employees in a nonunion forum, this charge would probably be upheld; moreover, as a remedy, the participation structure would probably be dissolved. She then suggests changes in public policy to protect participation programs that do not threaten the bargaining agent

Business · Collective bargaining · Doctrine · Economics · Labor disputes · Labor relations · Labour economics · Labour law · Law and economics · Legislature · Political science · Principle of legality · Public relations · Quality (philosophy) · Scope (computer science) · United States labor law · Industrial relations · Labor Movements and Unions · Law

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