The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a federal agency created in 1935 to enforce the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act, NLRA), the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector of the U.S. economy. The NLRB engages in a wide range of activities, including conducting secret-ballot elections to determine whether employees of a company want union representation and investigation and adjudication of unfair labor practices by employers and unions. National Labor Relations Board jurisdiction generally applies to all employers engaged in interstate commerce other than airlines, railroads, agriculture, and government.
Since its inception, the NLRB’s role has been amended by Congress, by its board’s actions, and by court decisions. The board has five members and primarily acts as a quasijudicial body deciding cases on the basis of records from administrative proceedings. Board members are appointed by the U.S. president to five-year terms with Senate approval. The term of one board member expires each year.
When an unfair labor-practice charge is filed with the NLRB, the appropriate field office conducts an investigation to determine if there is reasonable cause to believe the National Labor Relations Board has been violated. If the regional director finds reasonable cause, the region seeks a voluntary settlement to remedy the alleged violations. If the settlement effort fails, a formal complaint is issued and the case goes to hearing before an NLRB administrative law judge, who issues a written decision that may be appealed to the full NLRB. Of approximately 35,000 charges filed annually, approximately one-third are found to have merit, of which over 90 percent are settled.
Changes in the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) gave the National Labor Relations Board power to seek court injunctions to temporarily prevent unfair labor practices by either unions or employers and restore the status quo, pending a full review of the case by the NLRB. The act requires the National Labor Relations Board to seek a temporary federal-court injunction against certain forms of union misconduct, principally involving secondary boycotts (boycotts of companies with which unions are not directly negotiating) and recognitional picketing (picketing of a company in order to establish union representation).
Further reading
Mallor, Jane P., A. James Barnes, Thomas Bowers, Michael J. Philips, and Arlen W. Langvardt. Business Law and the Regulatory Environment, 11th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001; National Labor Relations Board website. Available on-line. URL: www.nlrb.gov.