The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) guarantees to many private sector employees the right to join and organize a labor union. The NLRA protects this right by making it unlawful for employers and labor unions to engage in certain "unfair labor practices." It is an unfair labor practice for either an employer or a union to restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights under the NLRA. This article summarizes actions that constitute unlawful restraint or coercion under the NLRA.

Employer Actions Constituting Unlawful Restraint or Coercion

Although employers are obviously barred from firing employees because they join a union or from physically removing striking workers from their facilities, employers most often violate this prohibition with subtle, economic forms of coercion. Overt action is not required to constitute illegal restrain or coercion under the NLRA. Indirect threats or hints of disciplinary actions are sufficient. Following are some common examples of unlawful restraint or coercion by employers:

• Firing, laying off, or otherwise punishing employees because they participate in union activity, including a strike;
• Threatening to fire, lay off, or otherwise discipline employees because they participate in union activity, including a strike;
• Threatening to close a plant if the employees seek union representation;
• Physically removing employees who are lawfully striking or picketing;
• Making employees uncomfortable by asking them questions about their union activities or philosophies; or
• Attempting to prevent employees from joining a union by offering them benefits to refrain from union activity.

Union Actions Constituting Unlawful Restraint or Coercion

The NLRA makes it unlawful for unions to unlawfully restrain or coerce either employees or employers, whether or not the union represents the employees. Under these provisions, a union or its agents may not engage in any of the following activities against any employees:

• Acting in a violent or forceful manner on a picket line or during a strike;
• Picketing in a manner that prevents non-striking employees from entering a plant;
• Threatening to harm non-striking employees, either physically or economically; and
• Entering into an exclusive bargaining agreement with an employer before it has been chosen by a majority of the employees.

When a union is already the exclusive bargaining representative for employees, the NLRA further prohibits it from engaging in the following activities:

• Negotiating with an employer so that seniority is based upon an employee's prior representation by the union with another employer; and
• Retaliating against employees for criticizing the union.

The NLRA also prohibits unions from engaging in the following types of coercion or restraint against employers:

• Refusing to negotiate with a company attorney;
• Threatening to strike if a company does not accept its unlawful demands;
• Requiring an employer to agree to working conditions established by a group to which the employer does not belong; and
• Disciplining supervisors for crossing picket lines to perform their supervisory duties.

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