Deck 4: Labor Law

Question 1

A key underlying concern regarding the use of the injunction against unions was its limiting influence on free speech.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The use of injunctions to stop or limit picketing during strikes had a significant and negative impact on unionization by turning public support away from unions and demoralizing strikers.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was often used against unions by treating them as a monopoly when they tried to exert pressure on an employer using tactics such as boycotts and strikes.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In addition to being used against strikers and unions, the injunction was frequently used against one business when its actions were deemed to threaten the property rights of another business.

Question 5

During the early 1900's, unions were viewed by the law as voluntary organizations of individuals and, since U.S. law valued individual liberty and freedom above all else, unions and workers were allowed relative freedom to use whatever means they could to protect their wages and working conditions.

Question 6

The conspiracy doctrine holds that individual attempts to influence wages and working conditions are a threat to the free market system and therefore an illegal conspiracy against the government.

Question 7

In 1842, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Hunt that union actions are conspiratorial and therefore illegal, thus making labor unions unlawful conspiracies.

Question 8

The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 was the first piece of U.S. legislation to explicitly give workers the right to unionize.

Question 9

The Railway Labor Act of 1926 protects the right of workers to form or join a union (of their own choosing), provides government mediation of collective bargaining disputes, and provides a mechanism for settling workplace disputes so that strikes can be avoided.

Question 10

The Railway Labor Act of 1926 regulates labor-management relations in the rail and airline industries.

Question 11

A yellow dog contract is a promise by employers to hire only union workers at their place of business.

Question 12

The Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 sought to remedy the imbalance between an employer and an individual worker by limiting the role of the courts in labor-management relations.

Question 13

From 1880 to around 1930, a key weapon against unionization was the injunction or a court order to "cease and desist" activities deemed to be potentially harmful to others.

Question 14

Arguably, the biggest blow to the mainstream economics school of thought as a way to conceptualize U.S. labor and management relations was the widespread poverty, unemployment and homelessness brought about by the Great Depression.

Question 15

Under the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, courts were explicitly prohibited from interfering with peaceful union activities, yellow dog contracts became unenforceable, and the conspiracy doctrine was effectively overturned.

Question 16

Property rights of an employer include the right to do business, to hire and fire employees, and to interact with customers.

Question 17

U.S. labor law seeks to find a balance between the property rights of company owners and the labor rights of workers.

Question 18

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was designed to outlaw monopolies and prevent their economic dominance over markets and over society.

Question 19

Statutory law is described as law based on customs, traditions of acceptable behavior, and judicial precedent.

Question 20

The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 was declared unconstitutional because the protection of labor unions provided by the Act was detrimental to business.

Question 21

Dempsey Foods is a large meat processing plant located in the Midwest. The company has been very concerned about safety in the plant and so it organizes a group of employees, selected by the plant manager, to ask other employees what can be done to improve safety. After talking with other employees, the safety group tells the plant manager safety would be improved by increasing wages, cutting hours, and buying new safety equipment. The plant manager asks the group whether the employees would be happy with an increase in wages and some new safety procedures. The safety group checks with the other employees before telling the plant manager those changes are acceptable. The plant manager implements the changes. This exchange between the plant manager and the safety group would be likely considered illegal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Question 22

The National Labor Relations Board has two branches, a general counsel's office and a five-member board of elected officials.

Question 23

The Wagner Act (NLRA) makes it illegal for an employer to designate a representative of the employees in negotiations over wages, hours, and working conditions.

Question 24

The Railway Labor Act could be described as a substantive, rather than as a procedural law, in that it allows the government to dictate certain outcomes of negotiations and grievance processes.

Question 25

According to the Wagner Act (NLRA), an employer must recognize and treat a union as the representative of all employees (even those that did not vote for the union) if the union has majority support of the employees.

Question 26

The Wagner Act (NLRA) was distinctly different from the NIRA in that it explicitly outlined illegal activities of employers with respect to their interference in unionization rights and provided for the creation of an independent government agency whose job it is to enforce the law.

Question 27

Northern Lights is a large manufacturing company that makes lighted signs and kiosks for major retailers and businesses. In an attempt to control the company's exposure to negative publicity through social media, the Director of HR issues a blanket policy prohibiting employees from posting any information about the company on their social media pages. The company's policy would be considered legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Question 28

The Wagner Act (or NLRA) is partially based on the assumption that individual workers and management are equals in the bargaining process.

Question 29

According to the Wagner Act (NLRA), if two employees walk off the job and proceed to picket their employer's place of business to protest unsafe working conditions, the employer is not allowed to retaliate against them .

Question 30

Frank is a supervisor at a major big box retail company. He learns that several of the employees have been meeting to discuss the possibility of unionizing the store. Frank approaches the leaders of the group and offers an immediate 2% pay increase for all employees, with an additional 2% to follow next year, if they agree to stop their organizing activity. Frank's actions are legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Question 31

The National Labor Relations Board has responsibility for conducting union representation elections and enforcing the NLRA's unfair labor practice provisions.

Question 32

U.S. labor law protects the right for a group of workers in a given workplace to be represented by more than one union.

Question 33

Spying on union representatives or employees who are attempting to unionize is a violation of Section 8(a)(3) of the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Question 34

Four employees engage in a spirited Facebook exchange complaining about their company's poor pay, benefits, and safety record. Because the employees' actions are protected under the Wagner Act (NLRA), the company cannot punish them for the posts.

Question 35

The Wagner Act (NLRA) is intended to protect the rights of workers to, as a group, talk to their employer about wages, hours, and working conditions even when they are not part of a union.

Question 36

Under the Wagner Act (NLRA), the only time workers are entitled to union representation is when the union has the support of the majority of workers at the workplace.

Question 37

From the perspective of mainstream economics, the Wagner Act (NLRA) is inadequate for challenging the power of capital and therefore does not do enough to empower labor.

Question 38

The Wagner Act's provision for exclusive representation by unions was largely aimed at curtailing company-dominated unions.

Question 39

At a local restaurant one evening, a supervisor from a large manufacturing plant is seated in a booth directly behind four employees of the plant she works at. She overhears these employees discussing the possibility of unionizing the plant and stays to learn more about their plans. The next day, she tells her box about what she has learned. The supervisor's actions are legal under the Wagner Act (NLRA).

Question 40

The concept of exclusive representation was introduced into the Wagner Act (NLRA) primarily to ensure that multiple unions did not fight over the right to represent the same group of employees.

Question 41

After a successful union organizing attempt at a manufacturing plant in Tennesse, the owners refuse to bargain an initial contract with the union, arguing the state's right-to-work law allows them to "refuse" union representation. The employer's interpretation of the law is correct.

Question 42

Political action committees established by unions for the purpose of supporting a political candidate can be funded, in part, by union dues.

Question 43

As a result of a labor dispute with WaveMakers (a boat manufacturing company), the union organizes a national boycott of WaveMaker boats. When the boycott proves to be unsuccessful in pressuring WaveMakers to concede to the union demands, the union extends its boycott to several other boat manufacturers, hoping they will influence WaveMakers to settle. This action is legal under the Taft-Hartley Act.

Question 44

Following the passage of the Wagner Act (NLRA), there was an explosion in union membership that resulted in widespread concerns that labor (and its unions) had accumulated too much power.

Question 45

Under the Taft-Hartley amendments to the NLRA, the President has the sole authority to declare a strike a threat to the national health or safety and thereby force workers back to work.

Question 46

The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 was passed in response to the widespread abuses of power by labor leaders of virtually every national union in the country.

Question 47

The NLRB has direct authority to enforce the provisions of the NLRA by issuing fines and sentencing violators to serve jail time.

Question 48

The Taft-Hartley Act provides unionization rights to supervisors.

Question 49

The Taft-Hartley Act makes it illegal for workers (or their unions) to engage in boycotts.

Question 50

The Taft-Hartley Act prohibits unions from restraining or coercing employees who do not wish to join a union.

Question 51

The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 requires unions and their officers to disclose financial records to the Department of Labor.

Question 52

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was created by the Taft-Hartley Act to provide mandatory mediation in private sector labor disputes over contract negotiations.

Question 53

Tracie works for a large restaurant chain as a waitress Conditions at the restaurant are terrible: low pay, unsafe work, and constant bullying by supervisors. Tracie begins to talk to other employees about the possibility of forming a union. The restaurant manager learns of her activity and fires her, claiming that her performance was "deficient." Since Tracie has never had a bad performance review, she is quite sure she was fired for her union activism. To pursue her claim against the employer, Tracie should file discrimination complaint with the EEOC.

Question 54

As with all other federal agencies, the investigatory and prosecution functions of the NLRB fall within the same branch of the agency.

Question 55

There are currently no legal provisions regarding the administration and democratic procedures of a union.

Question 56

Target Corporation has been criticized for requiring employees to repeatedly watch a training video with a strong an anti-union theme aimed at convincing them that unions will harm the company's ability to compete. Such training sessions are explicitly allowed by the Taft-Hartley Act as long as they do not contain threats or promises.

Question 57

If an individual believes that an unfair labor practice has occurred, they must file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Question 58

Section 9 of the Taft-Hartley Act creates a process by which employees can get rid of a union if they are no longer satisfied with the job it is doing.

Question 59

The right-to-work provision in Taft-Hartley allows states to pass laws that prohibit unions and management from negotiating union or agency shop agreements.

Question 60

It is legal for a union and management to negotiate a contract that requires the employer to hire only union workers.

Question 61

In recent years, public sector unions have come under attack because of the belief that they may undermine governmental authority and therefore democracy itself.

Question 62

Under the NLRA, changes in the context of employee relations or differences in the specifics of a particular case have little effect on the balance between company property rights and worker labor rights.

Question 63

Which of the following is not a category of statutory law?

A) Business law.
B) Labor law.
C) Common law.
D) Employment law.

Question 64

Employment law is generally considered to include the broad class of laws that govern collective bargaining and collective rights of workers.

Question 65

The fact that U.S. labor law has remained largely unchanged since the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 is evidence that there is little need or desire for reform.

Question 66

Which of the following is not a goal of U.S. labor law?

A) To balance efficiency, equity, and voice.
B) To strike a balance between property rights and labor rights.
C) To create a peaceful means for settling labor and employer disputes.
D) To ensure that property and individual rights are given precedence over labor's rights.

Question 67

In 1806, a group of Philadelphia shoemakers was convicted of ____________________ for joining together and refusing to work unless their terms were met.

A) Illegal assembly
B) Tyranny
C) Unpatriotic actions
D) Illegal conspiracy

Question 68

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 gives federal employees the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours, and working conditions; the right to strike; and the right to free speech.

Question 69

Some labor relations experts believe that the rise of employment law has served to replace collective bargaining as a way to ensure that workers are treated fairly in the workplace, rendering the NLRA obsolete.

Question 70

An injunction is:

A) A court-ordered restraint on action to prevent harm or damage to someone else.
B) A charge of conspiracy against the government.
C) The right of an employer to fire any employee, at any time.
D) A rule that prohibits union organizing.

Question 71

While case law surrounding labor relations issues is relatively dynamic, actual statutory laws have changed little since they were originally passed.

Question 72

Which statement best describes the significance of the 1842 court case, Commonwealth vs. Hunt?

A) It legitimized the injunction.
B) It established the conspiracy doctrine.
C) It stated that neither the ends of labor unions nor the means to achieve those ends were legal.
D) It declared that unions were not necessarily unlawful conspiracies.

Question 73

Unions are required by the Landrum-Griffin Act to disclose the amount of money they spend on political lobbying.

Question 74

State laws protecting state employees' collective bargaining rights vary considerably with respect to the extent of protection provided and which employees are given collective bargaining rights.

Question 75

Because U.S. labor law has remained largely unchanged since the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959, the decisions of the NLRB are predictable and generally insulated from political influence.

Question 76

Public sector unionization rights were established at approximately the same time as private sector unionization rights.

Question 77

Which of the following is not common law?

A) Conspiracy doctrine.
B) Breach of contract.
C) Property rights.
D) Antitrust laws.

Question 78

The employment-at-will doctrine states that employers have the right to fire employees and employees have the right to quit for any reason and at any time.

Question 79

Which of the following statements is True?

A) Common law is a body of laws based on customs, traditions, and judicial precedent rather than on legislative statute.
B) Common law and business law are essentially the same concepts.
C) Labor law and employment law are essentially the same concepts.
D) Statutory law is a body of laws based on customs, traditions, and legislative statute.

Question 80

The NLRB's decision in Wright Line lays out a 3 part test to determine whether an employee was disciplined or discharged for legitimate reasons, rather than as retaliation or coercion for union activities.