NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

The industrialization of the United States created new labor issues for the young nation. Mistreated and dissatisfied workers found ways to work together in an attempt to negotiate better arrangements for themselves with employers. The increased activism of workers, mainly in the form of unions, and the negative reaction by businesses to the union movement led the federal government to develop regulations for fair employment practices.

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) is the core from which much of present day U.S. labor law stems. The NLRA has its roots in the Railway Labor Act of 1926 and the National Industrial Recovery Act. Until the Railway Labor Act of 1926 (RLA) workers were largely unprotected in the workplace. The RLA, as applied to the railroad industry, was enacted with the intent to avoid work stoppages by employees and lockouts by employers. It provided an alternative to these measures by way of negotiation, mediation, or arbitration.

The standards first devised by the RLA were expanded in 1933 under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). The NIRA was friendly to unions and employees. Under the NIRA, employees were granted the right to organize and bargain collectively through unions. Before the NIRA employees involved in union activity were treated harshly by employers and often faced firing for their union association.

Building on the standards set by the RLA and the NIRA, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The board is an independent federal agency created with the primary purpose of enforcing labor law in the United States. It set regulations to prevent unfair labor practices by private sector employees and unions, who had taken advantage of previous federal protection under the National Industrial Recovery Act. It also maintained and extended protection of employees' rights to organize and to use union representation in negotiations with employers. Provisions were made for a secret ballot to determine whether employees wanted to maintain union representation.

Although the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that regulates U.S. labor, it can only act when officially requested in "petitions" (usually for an election) or "charges" (regarding unfair labor practices). The NLRB limits its involvement to cases that have a significant effect on commerce.

The National Labor Relations Act was an attempt to deal equitably with labor and management. Until it took effect, the laws shifted uncertainly from pro-business to pro-worker and pro-union, giving employers and workers at times too little protection or too few guidelines. The NLRA set a solid foundation on which industrial relations could be built.