Labor Law Landscape

Labor Law Landscape is a practical resource for practitioners involved in navigating the day-to-day realities of the labor relations process. Developed by Rafael Gely, this work recognizes and addresses the increased complexities that labor relations specialists face, and provides a course through this maze to put today's labor relations rules in sharp focus.

It meets the need for a clearly written practical explanation and summary of the principles of labor relations law and the important rules developed under the statutes and decisions.

The guiding principle behind the Labor Law Landscape is to develop a body of general principles with the goal of assisting professionals in understanding the operation of the collective bargaining process. The text is sufficiently detailed to assist in answering troublesome questions, yet concise enough for quick reference.

Labor Law Landscape takes no sides to favor neither labor nor management. The author believes that no field has more to gain from a sound and dispassionate treatment than does labor law. This resource proceeds on the assumption that a robust understanding of today's rules, and a nonpartisan appreciation of their effects, are first steps that must be taken before labor relations practice can achieve the important goal of managing workplace conflict.

Organization and Structure:

• Chapter 1 provides a short history of the legal antecedents of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which has been since 1935, the key piece of legislation at the federal level regulating the process of collective bargaining.

• Chapter 2 looks at the "actors" in the labor relations process. The chapter covers the definitions of terms like "employer," "union," and "employee," as well as a description of the structure and operation of the National Labor Relations Board.

• Chapters 3 through 6 explore the legal issues corresponding to the three core stages of the labor relations process: organizing employees, negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, and administering the terms of the contract. Specifically, Chapter 3 discusses the rights afforded to employees under Section 7 of the NLRA, while Chapter 4 explores the legal issues pertaining to the organizing process. Chapters 5 and 6 explore the process of negotiating the collective bargaining agreement, and the tactics that the parties use to increase their bargaining leverage.

• Chapter 7 focuses on the contract administration process, primarily on the law of labor arbitration. This chapter also discusses other forms of dispute resolution in the unionized workplace.

• Chapter 8 addresses the interesting and complex issue of preemption. The chapter provides a concise and helpful discussion of the key concepts courts have developed to deal with attempts by state legislatures to regulate private sector labor relations within their jurisdictions.

• Chapter 9 explores the respective obligations owed to the individual employee by the union, including union security provisions to protect the employee from both
  the employer and union alike, the NLRA's prohibition against a union securing the discharge of an employee by an employer except in a few circumstances, and the union's duty of fair representation of the individual employee.

• While Labor Law Landscape focuses mainly in private sector labor law, a full discussion of this topic would be incomplete without referencing the parallel development of the law applicable to public employees. Chapter 10 provides an overview of the way in which individual states have regulated their own labor relations process--which employees are allowed to organize collectively, what rights do they have when they chose to organize, and how does the contract administration process play out among public employees.

• Appendix A contains a topically arranged sample of collective bargaining agreements provisions.

• Appendix B provides a helpful glossary of labor terms.