Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959
Pub. L.86–257 | |
Statutes at Large | 73 Stat. 519 |
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Codification | |
Titles amended | 29 U.S.C.: Labor |
U.S.C. sections created | 29 U.S.C. ch. 11 §§ 401-531 |
Legislative history | |
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The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (also "LMRDA" or the Landrum–Griffin Act), is a
Background
After enactment of the
During the mid-to-late 1950s, the labor movement was under intense Congressional scrutiny for corruption, racketeering, and other misconduct.
It was sponsored by Democrat
Content
Important provisions of the law were as follows:
- Unions had to hold secret elections, reviewable by the Department of Labor.
- Union members are protected against abuses by a bill of rights including guarantees of freedom of speech and periodic secret elections of officers.
- Members of the Communist Party and convicted felons were barred from holding union office. The bar on Communist Party members was ruled unconstitutional in 1965 in the case United States v. Brown.[4]
- Unions had to submit annual financial reports to the DOL.
- Every union officer must act as a fiduciary in handling the assets and conducting the affairs of the union.
- Unions' power to put subordinate bodies in trusteeship, a temporary suspension of democratic processes within a union, was limited.
- Minimum standards were made before a union could expel or take other disciplinary action against a member of the union.
The LMRDA covers both workers and unions covered by the
Congress also amended the
Union members may enforce their LMRDA rights through private lawsuit or, in some cases, through the US Department of Labor.
Subsequent operation
Twenty years after the passage of the Act, co-sponsor Senator Robert Griffin wrote,
Today, nearly two decades after enactment, it is undeniable that the Landrum–Griffin Act has played a significant role in enabling union members to participate more freely in the affairs of their unions. On the other hand, it cannot be said that union corruption and abuses of union power have disappeared. But such conduct in the union movement is not as common as it was twenty years ago; and, in large measure, that can be credited to the existence of the Landrum–Griffin Act.[5]
Griffin acknowledged the shortcomings, particularly with regard to the
Voting
The Act stressed for union members to be guaranteed, as part of a Bill of Rights, the right to a secret ballot on certain issues facing the union at large.[7] However, in naming certain aspects of union function, such as dues, constitution, bylaws, membership,[7] and not others, the Act opened the door for abuses. For instance, a vote on the union constitution would require that each member have the right to see the proposed changes, distribute information in support or opposition thereof, and have their union bound by the result of the election. However, if a ratification vote was not under one of these named clauses, the protections did not apply under the Act, and union officials could act as they saw fit, regardless of the sentiment of general membership.[8]
Collective bargaining
Likewise, the Act addressed the issue of collective bargaining but only in externalities such as reporting thereof. It did not address the question of whether such agreements required any consent from the union members or locals.
Pensions
With regard to retiree pensions, among other secondary issues, the Act did nothing to close the loophole created by the
Persuader Rule
President Barack Obama used the Act as authority to issue the "Persuader Rule", which required an employer's attorney to publicly disclose advice provided to persuade against unionization.[15] The National Federation of Independent Business sued and, on November 16, 2016, U.S. District Judge Samuel Ray Cummings issued a permanent nationwide injunction blocking the Persuader Rule, finding it was not authorized by the Act, and that it violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[16]
See also
- US labor law
- National Labor Relations Act of 1935, the "Wagner Act"
- Taft–Hartley Act (Labor Management Relations Act of 1947)
- List of United States federal legislation
Notes
- ^ Bellace and Berkowitz (1979).
- ^ a b c d e "National Labor Relations Board, 75 Years, 1935 - 2010". Archived from the original on 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
- ^ Lee (1990).
- U.S. v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437(1965).
- ^ Bellace and Berkowitz, iii.
- ^ Bellace and Berkowitz, v.
- ^ a b 29 U.S.C. §411 (1959).
- ^ Alan Hyde, Democracy in Collective Bargaining, 93 Yale Law Journal 793, 795 (1984).
- ^ Hyde, 807.
- ^ Gordon v. Laborers' Int'l Union of North America, 490 F.2d 133 (10th Cir. 1973). See also Hyde, 826.
- ^ Hyde, 795.
- ^ Katherine Van Wezel Stone, The Postwar Paradigm in American Labor Law, 93 Yale Law Journal 1509.
- ^ Allied Chemical Workers Local 1 v. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, 404 U.S. 157, 187-88 (1971).
- ^ Vincent v. IBEW, 622 F.2d 140, 143 (5th Cir. 1980). See also Hyde, 39.
- ^ Cassens Weiss, Debra (28 June 2016). "Judge blocks new 'persuader rule' requiring disclosure of lawyer advice to employers on union issues". ABA Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
- Bloomberg BNADaily Labor Report. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
References
- JR Bellace and AD Berkowitz, The Landrum–Griffin Act: Twenty Years of Federal Protection of Union Members' Rights (1979). 363 pp.
- H Benson, 'The Fight for Union Democracy' in SM Lipset, ed. Unions in Transition: Entering the Second Century (1986), pp 323–370
- A Cox, 'The Role of Law in Preserving Union Democracy' (1959) 72(4) Harvard Law Review 609
- A Cox, 'Internal Affairs of Labor Unions under the Labor Reform Act of 1959' (1960) 58(6) Michigan Law Review 819-854
- AR Lee, Eisenhower and Landrum–Griffin: A Study in Labor-Management Politics (1990) 202 pp.
- SM Lipset, 'The Law and Trade Union Democracy' (1961) 47(1) Virginia Law Review 1-50
- E McGaughey, 'Democracy or Oligarchy? Models of Union Governance in the UK, Germany and US' (2017) ssrn.com
- CW Summers, 'American Legislation for Union Democracy' (1962) 25 MLR 273
External links
- Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- Amended text, regulations and interpretations from the Department of Labor
- Website of the Association for Union Democracy