Sec. 2. Findings
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/bill/115/s/2143/is/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) was enacted to encourage the practice of collective bargaining and to protect the exercise by workers of full freedom of association in the workplace. Since its enactment in 1935, tens of millions of workers have bargained with their employers over wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment and have raised the standard of living for all workers. Through acting collectively and bargaining with their employers, workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 25.2 percent more than workers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
They are 40.8 percent more likely to be offered health insurance through work and nearly 5 times more likely to have employer-provided defined benefit pensions. The wage differential is significant for women and people of color. African-American workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 25.1 percent more than African-American workers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and Latino workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 45.7 percent more than their peers who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Women covered by a collective bargaining agreement earn 32.1 percent more than women who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and the wage gap between men and women is much smaller at workplaces covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The wage gains achieved through collective bargaining agreements benefit workers and their communities. Labor organizations and collective bargaining ensure that productivity gains are shared by working people. The decline in the percentage of workers covered by collective bargaining has contributed significantly to skyrocketing income inequality and flat wages.
As enacted in 1935, the National Labor Relations Act protects the right of all workers to join together with their coworkers to advocate for improvements in their pay, benefits, and working conditions, regardless of whether they seek representation by a labor organization. Such Act protects the right of workers to discuss issues like pay and benefits without retaliation or interference by employers. However, the awareness of workers regarding their rights under such Act is lacking, and many employers maintain policies that restrict the ability of workers to discuss workplace issues with each other, directly contravening these rights.
Research shows that more than one-half of workers report that their employers have policies that prohibit or discourage workers from discussing pay with their coworkers. These policies and practices impede workers from exercising their rights under such Act and impair their freedom of association at work. Retaliation by employers against workers who exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act persists at troubling levels. Employers routinely fire workers for trying to form a labor organization at their workplace.
In one out of 3 organizing campaigns, one or more workers are discharged for supporting or joining a labor organization. In fiscal year 2014, the National Labor Relations Board obtained reinstatement orders for 3,240 workers and obtained back pay awards totaling $43,800,000 for workers who faced illegal retaliation for exercising their rights. The current remedies are inadequate to deter employers from violating the National Labor Relations Act. The remedies and penalties for violations of such Act are far weaker than for other labor and employment laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.).
Unlike other major labor and employment laws, there are no civil penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Workers cannot go to court to pursue relief on their own and must rely on the National Labor Relations Board to prosecute their case. Unlike orders of other Federal agencies, the orders of the National Labor Relations Board are not enforced until the Board seeks enforcement from the Court of Appeals. As far back as 1969, the Administrative Conference of the United States recognized that the absence of a self-enforcing agency order imposes wasteful delays in the enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, and recommended that the Board’s orders be made self-enforcing like those of other agencies.
Congress did not act upon this recommendation, and delays in the Board’s enforcement remain a problem for such Act to be an effective law. Many workers do not currently enjoy the protections of the National Labor Relations Act because they are excluded from coverage under such Act or interpretations of such Act. Too often, workers who choose to form labor organizations are frustrated when their employers use delay and other tactics to avoid reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement.
Estimates are that in as many as half of new organizing campaigns, workers and their employers fail to reach an initial collective bargaining agreement. In order to make the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association in the workplace a reality for workers, the National Labor Relations Act must be strengthened.
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