Full text of National Labor Relations Act

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

[P ublic — No. 198 — 74 th C ongress ]
[S. 1958]
AN ACT
To diminish the causes of labor disputes burdening or obstructing interstate and
foreign commerce, to create a National Labor Relations Board, and for other
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
FINDINGS AND POLICY
S e c t i o n 1. The denial by employers of the right of employees to
organize and the refusal by employers to accept the procedure of
collective bargaining lead to strikes and other forms of industrial
strife or unrest, which have the intent or the necessary effect of
burdening or obstructing commerce by (a) impairing the efficiency,
safety, or operation of the instrumentalities of commerce; (b) occur­
ring in the current of commerce; (c) materially affecting, restraining,
or controlling the flow of raw materials or manufactured or processed
goods from or into the channels of commerce, or the prices of such
materials or goods in commerce; or (d) causing diminution of
employment and wages in such volume as substantially to impair or
disrupt the market for goods flowing from or into the channels
o f commerce.
The inequality of bargaining power between employees who do
not possess full freedom of association or actual liberty of contract,
and employers who are organized in the corporate or other forms of
ownership association substantially burdens and affects the flow
of commerce, and tends to aggravate recurrent business depressions,
by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners
in industry and by preventing the stabilization of competitive wage
rates and working conditions within and between industries.
Experience has proved that protection by law of the right of
employees to organize and bargain collectively safeguards com­
merce from injury, impairment, or interruption, and promotes the
flow of commerce by removing certain recognized sources of indus­
trial strife and unrest, by encouraging practices fundamental to the
friendly adjustment of industrial disputes arising out o f differences
as to wages, hours, or other working conditions, and by restoring
equality of bargaining power between employers and employees.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to
eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free
flow of commerce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions
when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure
of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers
of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of
representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating
the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or
protection.




2

[PUB.1MJ

DEFINITIONS

S eo. 2. W hen used in this A ct—

(1) The term “ person” includes one or more individuals, part­
nerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees,
trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers.
(2) The term “ employer ” includes any person acting in the
interest of an employer, directly or indirectly, but shall not include
the United States, or any State or political subdivision thereof, or
any person subject to the Railway Labor Act, as amended from time
to time, or any labor organization (other than when acting as an
employer), or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of
such labor organization.
(3) The term “ employee ” shall include any employee, and shall
not be limited to the employees of a particular employer, unless the
Act explicitly states otherwise, and shall include any individual
whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with,
any current labor dispute or because of any unfair labor practice,
and who has not obtained any other regular and substantially equiv­
alent employment, but shall not include any individual employed
as an agricultural laborer, or in the domestic service of any family
or person at his home, or any individual employed by his parent
or spouse.
(4) The term “ representatives ” includes any individual or labor
organization.
(5) The term “ labor organization ” means any organization of
any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or
plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the pur­
pose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employ­
ment, or conditions of work.
(6) The term “ commerce” means trade, traffic, commerce, trans­
portation, or communication among the several States, or between
the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States
and any State or other Territory, or between any foreign country
and any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or within
the District of Columbia or any Territory, or between points in the
same State but through any other State or any Territory or the
District o f Columbia or any foreign country.
(7) The term “ affecting commerce ” means in commerce, or bur­
dening or obstructing commerce or the free flow of commerce, or
having led or tending to lead to a labor dispute burdening or
obstructing commerce or the free flow o f commerce.
(8) The term “ unfair labor practice” means any unfair labor
practice listed in section 8.
(9) The term “ labor dispute ” includes any controversy concerning
terms, tenure or conditions of employment, or concerning the associ­
ation or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintain­
ing, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employ­
ment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate
relation of employer and employee.
(10) The term “ National Labor Relations B oard” means the
National Labor Relations Board created by section 3 of this Act.
(11) The term “ old Board ” means the National Labor Relations




lP t». 108.1

3

Board established by Executive Order Numbered 6763 of the Presi­
dent on June 29, 1934, pursuant to Public Resolution Numbered 44,
approved June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1183), and reestablished and con­
tinued by Executive Order Numbered 7074 of the President of
June 15, 1935, pursuant to Title I of the National Industrial Recov­
ery Act (48 Stat. 195) as amended and continued by Senate Joint
Resolution 133 1 approved June 14, 1935.
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

S eo. 3. (a) There is hereby created a board, to be known as the

“ National Labor Relations Board ” (hereinafter referred to as
the “ B oard” ), which shall be composed of three members, who
shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate. One of the original members shall be
appointed for a term of one year, one for a term of three years, and
one for a term of five years, but their successors shall be appointed
for terms of five years each, except that any individual chosen to
fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of
the member whom he shall succeed. The President shall designate
one member to serve as chairman of the Board. Any member of
the Board may be removed by the President, upon notice and hear­
ing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other
cause.
(b) A vacancy in the Board shall not impair the right of the
remaining members to exercise all the powers o f the Board, and
two members of the Board shall, at all times, constitute a quorum.
The Board shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed.
(c) The Board shall at the close of each fiscal year make a report
in writing to Congress and to the President stating in detail the
cases it has heard, the decisions it has rendered, the names, salaries,
and duties of all employees and officers in the employ or under the
supervision of the Board, and an account of all moneys it has
disbursed.
S ec. 4. (a) Each member of the Board shall receive a salary of
$10,000 a year, shall be eligible for reappointment, and shall not
engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. The Board
shall appoint^ without regard for the provisions of the civil-service
laws but subject to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, an
executive secretary, and such attorneys, examiners, and regional
directors, and shall appoint such other employees with regard to
existing laws applicable to the employment and compensation of
officers and employees of the United States, as it may from time
to time find necessary for the proper performance of its duties and
as may be from time to time appropriated for by Congress. The
Board may establish or utilize such regional, local, or other agencies,
and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services, as may from
time to time be needed. Attorneys appointed under this section
may, at the direction of the Board, appear for and represent th«
Board in any case in court. Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to authorize the Board to appoint individuals for the purpose of
conciliation or mediation (or for statistical work), where such
service may be obtained from the Department of Labor.
(b) Upon the appointment o f the three original members of the
Board and the designation of its chairman, the old Board shall cease
1 So In origin&L




4

{P o t . 198.]

to exist. A ll employees o f the old Board shall be transferred to
and become employees of the Board with salaries under the Classi­
fication Act of 1923, as amended, without acquiring by such transfer
a permanent or civil service status. A ll records, papers, and prop­
erty of the old Board shall become records, papers, and property
of the Board, and all unexpended funds and appropriations for the
use and maintenance of the old Board shall become funds and appro­
priations available to be expended by the Board in the exercise of
the powers, authority, and duties conferred on it by this Act.
(c)
A ll of the expenses o f the Board, including all necessary
traveling and subsistence expenses outside the District of Columbia
incurred by the members or employees of the Board under its orders,
shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers
therefor approved by the Board or by any individual it designates
for that purpose.
S ec. 5. The principal office of the Board shall be in the District
of Columbia, but it may meet and exercise any or all of its powers
at any other place. The Board may, by one or more of its members
or by such agents or agencies as it may designate, prosecute any
inquiry necessary to its functions in any part of the United States.
A member who participates in such an inquiry shall not be dis­
qualified from subsequently participating in a decision of the Board
in the same case.
S ec. 6. (a) The Board shall have authority from time to time
to make, amend, and rescind such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Such rules and
regulations shall be effective upon publication in the manner which
the Board shall prescribe.
RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES

S ec . 7. Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to
form , join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives o f their own choosing, and to engage in
concerted activities, for the purpose o f collective bargaining or other
mutual aid or protection.
S ec . 8. It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer—

(1) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exer­
cise of the rights guaranteed in section 7.
(2) To dominate or interfere with the formation or adminis­
tration of any labor organization or contribute financial or other
support to it: Provided, That subject to rules and regulations made
and published by the Board pursuant to section 6 (a), an employer
shall not be prohibited from permitting employees to confer with
him during working hours without loss o f time or pay.
(3) By discrimination in regard to hire or tenure of employment
or any term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage
membership in any labor organization: Provided, That nothing
in this Act, or in the National Industrial Recovery Act (U. S. C.,
Supp. V II, title 15, secs. 701-712), as amended from time to time,
or in any code or agreement approved or prescribed thereunder, or
in any other statute of the United States, shall preclude an employer
from making an agreement with a labor organization (not estab­
lished, maintained, or assisted by any action defined in this Act




[Pub . 198.1

5

as an unfair labor practice) to require as a condition of employ­
ment membership therein, if such labor organization is the repre­
sentative of the employees as provided in section 9 (a ), in the appro­
priate collective bargaining unit covered by such agreement when
made.
(4) To discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee
because he has filed charges or given testimony under this Act.
(5 )
To refuse to bargain collectively with the representatives o f
his employees, subject to the provisions of Section 9 (a).
REPRESENTATIVES AND ELECTIONS

S ec. 9. (a) Representatives designated or selected for the pur­
poses of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in
a unit appropriate for such purposes, shall be the exclusive repre­
sentatives of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to rates o f pay, wages? hours of
employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided, That
any individual employee or a group of employees shall have the
right at any time to present grievances to their employer.
(b) The Board shall decide in each case whether, in order to
insure to employees the full benefit of their right to self-organiza­
tion and to collective bargaining, and otherwise to effectuate the
policies of this Act, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collec­
tive bargaining shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or
subdivision thereof.
(c) Whenever a question affecting commerce arises concerning
the representation of employees, the Board may investigate such
controversy and certify to the parties, in writing, the name or
names of the representatives that have been designated or selected.
In any such investigation, the Board shall provide for an appro­
priate hearing upon due notice, either in conjunction with a proceed­
ing under section 10 or otherwise, and may take a secret ballot of
employees, or utilize any other suitable method to ascertin1 such
representatives.
(d) Whenever an order of the Board made pursuant to section
10 (c) is based in whole or in part upon facts certified following
an investigation pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, and
there is a petition for the enforcement or review of such order, such
certification and the record of such investigation shall be included
in the transcript of the entire record required to be filed under sub­
sections 10 (e) or 10 (f ), and thereupon the decree of the court
enforcing, modifying, or setting aside in whole or in part the order
of the Board shall be made and entered upon the pleadings, testi­
mony, and proceedings set forth in such transcript.
PREVENTION OF UN FAIR LABOR PRACTICES

S ec. 10. (a) The Board is empowered, as hereinafter provided,

to prevent any person from engaging in any unfair labor practice
(listed in section 8) affecting commerce. This power shall be
exclusive, and shall not be affected by any other means of adjust­
ment or prevention that has been or may be established by agree­
ment, code, law, or otherwise.
(b) Whenever it is charged that any person has engaged in or is
engaging in any such unfair labor practice, the Board, or any
1 So in original.




6

[P ub. 1984

agent or agency designated by the Board for such purposes, shall
have power to issue and cause to be served upon such person a com­
plaint stating the charges in that respect, and containing a notice
of hearing before the Board or a member thereof, or before a desig­
nated agent or agency, at a place therein fixed, not less than five days
after the serving of said complaint. Any such complaint may be
amended by the member, agent, or agency conducting the hearing
or the Board in its discretion at any time prior to the issuance of
an order based thereon. The person so complained of shall have
the right to file an answer to the original or amended complaint
and to appear in person or otherwise and give testimony at the
place and time fixed in the complaint. In the discretion of the
member, agent or agency conducting the hearing or the Board, any
other person may be allowed to intervene in the said proceeding
and to present testimony. In any such proceeding the rules o i
evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling.
(c) The testimony taken by such member, agent or agency or
the Board shall be reduced to writing and filed with the Board.
Thereafter, in its discretion, the Board upon notice may take fur­
ther testimony or hear argument. I f upon all the testimony taken
the Board shall be of the opinion that any person named in the
complaint has engaged in or is engaging in any such unfair labor
practice, then the Board shall state its findings of fact and shall
issue and cause to be served on such person an order requiring
such person to cease and desist from such unfair labor practice,
and to take such affirmative action, including reinstatement o i
employees with or without back pay, as will effectuate the policies
of this Act. Such order may further require such person to make
reports from time to time showing the extent to which it has com­
plied with the order. I f upon all the testimony taken the Board
shall be of the opinion that no person named in the complaint has
engaged in or is engaging in any such unfair labor practice, then
tlie Board shall state its findings of fact and shall issue an order
dismissing the said complaint.
(d) Until a transcript of the record in a case shall have been
filed in a court, as hereinafter provided, the Board may at any
time, upon reasonable notice and in such manner as it shall deem
proper, modify or set aside, in whole or in part, any finding or
order made or issued by it.
(e) The Board shall have power to petition any circuit court
of appeals of the United States (including the Court of Appeals
of the District of Columbia), or it all the circuit courts of appeals
to which application may be made are in vacation, any district
court of the United States (including the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia), within any circuit or district, respectively,
wherein the unfair labor practice in question occurred or wherein
such person resides or transacts business, for the enforcement of
such order and for appropriate temporary relief or restraining
order, and shall certify and file in the court a transcript of the
entire record in the proceeding, including the pleadings and testi­
mony upon which such order was entered and the findings and
order o f the Board. Upon such filing, the court shall cause notice
thereof to be served upon such person, and thereupon shall have
jurisdiction of the proceeding and o f the question determined




[P ub. 19&J

7

therein, and shall have power to grant such temporary relief or
restraining order as it deems just and proper, and to make and
enter upon the pleadings, testimony, and proceedings set forth in
such transcript a decree enforcing, modifying, and enforcing as
so modified, or setting aside in whole or in part the order ox the
Board. No objection that has not been urged before the Board, its
member, agent or agency, shall be considered by the court, unless
the failure or neglect to urge such objection shall be excused because
of extraordinary circumstances. The findings of the Board as to
the facts, if supported by evidence, shall be conclusive. I f either
party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evi­
dence and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that such addi­
tional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds
for the failure to adduce such evidence in the hearing before the
Board, its member, agent, or agency, the court may order such
additional evidence to be taken before the Board, its member, agent,
or agency, and to be made a part of the transcript. The Board may
modify its findings as to the facts, or make new findings, by reason
of additional evidence so taken and filed, and it shall file such modi­
fied or new findings, which, if supported by evidence, shall be con­
clusive, and shall file its recommendations, if any^ for the modifica­
tion or setting aside of its original order. The jurisdiction of the
court shall be exclusive and its judgment and decree shall be final,
except that the same shall be subject to review by the appropriate
circuit court of appeals if application was made to the district court
as hereinabove provided, and by the Supreme Court of the United
States upon writ of certiorari or certification as provided in sections
239 and 240 of the Judicial Code, as amended (U. S. C., title 28,
secs. 346 and 347).
(f) Any person aggrieved by a final order of the Board granting
or denying m whole or in part the relief sought may obtain a review
of such order in any circuit court of appeals of the United States in
the circuit wherein the unfair labor practice in question was alleged
to have been engaged in or wherein such person resides or transacts
business, or in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, by
filing in such court a written petition praying that the order of the
Board be modified or set aside. A copy of such petition shall be
forthwith served upon the Board, and thereupon the aggrieved party
shall file in the court a transcript of the entire record in the proceed­
ing, certified by the Board, including the pleading and testimony
upon which the order complained of was entered and the findings
and order of the Board. Upon such filing, the court shall proceed
in the same manner as in the case of an application by the Board
under subsection (e), and shall have the same exclusive jurisdiction
to grant to the Board such temporary relief or restraining order as it
deems just and proper, and in like manner to make and enter a decree
enforcing, modifying, and enforcing as so modified, or setting aside
in whole or in part the order of the Board; and the findings of the
Board as to the facts, if supported by evidence, shall in like manner
be conclusive.
(g ) The commencement of proceedings under subsection (e) or ( f)
of til is section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court,
operate as a stay of the Board’s order.




8

(P ub . 198.1

(h) When granting appropriate temporary relief or a restraining
order, or making and entering a decree enforcing, modifying, and
enforcing as so modified or setting aside in whole or in part an order
of the Board, as provided in this section, the jurisdiction of courts
sitting in equity shall not be limited by the Act entitled “ An Act to
amend the Judicial Code and to define and limit the jurisdiction of
courts sitting in equity, and for other purposes ” , approved March
23, 1932 (U. S. C., Supp. V II, title 29, secs. 101-115).
(i) Petitions filed under this Act shall be heard expeditiously, and
if possible within ten days after they have been docketed.
INVESTIGATORY POWERS

S eo. 11. For the purpose o f all hearings and investigations, which,
in the opinion of the Board, are necessary and proper for the exercise
of the powers vested in it by section 9 and section 10—
(1) The Board, or its duly authorized agents or agencies, shall at
all reasonable times have access to, for the purpose of examination,
and the right to copy any evidence of any person being investigated
or proceeded against that relates to any matter under investigation or
in question. Any member of the Board shall have power to issue
subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and
the production of any evidence that relates to any matter under inves­
tigation or in question, before the Board, its member, agent, or agency
conducting the hearing or investigation. Any member of the Board,
or any agent or agency designated by the Board for such purposes,
may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive
evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of such
evidence may be required from any place in the United States or any
Territory or possession thereof, at anv designated place of hearing.
(2) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena issued to
any person, any District Court of the United States or the United
States courts of any Territory or possession, or the Supreme Court
o f the District of Columbia,, within the jurisdiction of which the
inquiry is carried on or within the jurisdiction of which said person
guilty of contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides or trans­
acts business, upon application by the Board shall have jurisdiction
to issue to such person an order requiring such person to appear
before the Board, its member, agent, or agency, there to produce
evidence if so ordered, or there to give testimony touching the matter
under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such
order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt
thereof.
(3) No person shall be excused from attending and testifying or
from producing books, records, correspondence, documents, or other
evidence in obedience to the subpena of the Board, on the ground
that the testimony or evidence required of him may tend to incrim­
inate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no indi­
vidual shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture
for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning
which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege against
self-incrimination, to testify or produce evidence, except that such
individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and
punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.




[P ub. 198 .]

9

(4 ) Complaints, orders, and other process and papers o f the Board,
its member, agent, or agency, may be served either personally or by
registered mail or by telegraph or by leaving a copy thereof at the
principal office or place o f business o f the person required to be
served. The verified return by the individual so serving the same
setting forth the manner of such service shall be proof of the same,
and the return post office receipt or telegraph receipt therefor when
registered and mailed or telegraphed as aforesaid shall be proof of
service o f the same. Witnesses summoned before the Board, its
member, agent, or agency, shall be paid the same fees and mileage
that are paid witnesses in the courts o f the United States, and wit­
nesses whose depositions are taken and the persons taking the same
shall severally be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like
services in the courts of the United States.
(5) A ll process o f any court to which application may be made
under this Act may be served in the judicial district wherein the
defendant or other person required to be served resides or may be
found.
(6) The several departments and agencies o f the Government,
when directed by the President, shall furnish the Board, upon its
request, all records, papers, and information in their possession
relating to any matter before the Board.
S ec. 12. Any person who shall willfully resist, prevent, impede,
or interfere with any member of the Board or any of its agents or
agencies in the performance o f duties pursuant to this Act shall be
punished by a fine of not more than $5,000 or by imprisonment for
not more than one year, or both.
LIMITATIONS

S ec. 13. Nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to interfere
with or impede or diminish in any way the right to strike.
S ec . 14. Wherever the application o f the provisions o f section
7 (a) o f the National Industrial Recovery Act (U. S. C., Supp. V II,
title 15, sec. 707 ( a ) ) , as amended from time to time, or of section
77 B, paragraphs (1) and (m) o f the A ct approved June 7, 1934,
entitled “ An Act to amend an Act entitled ‘An Act to establish a
uniform system o f bankruptcy throughout the United States ’
approved July 1, 1898, and Acts amendatory thereof and supple­
mentary thereto” (48 Stat. 922, pars. (1) and ( m ) ) , as amended
from time to time, or of Public Resolution Numbered 44, approved
June 19, 1934 (48 Stat. 1183), conflicts with the application o f the
provisions o f this Act, this Act shall prevail: Provided, That in
any situation where the provisions o f this Act cannot be validly
enforced, the provisions o f such other Acts shall remain in full
force and effect.
S ec. 15. I f any provision of this Act, or the application of such
provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the
remainder o f this Act, or the application of such provision to per­
sons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid,
shall not be affected thereby.
S ec. 16. This Act may be cited as the “ National Labor Relations
Act.”
Approved, July 5, 1935.