29 U.S.C. § 141 — Short title; Congressional declaration of

Page 34 TITLE 29—LABOR § 141 Sec. 152. Definitions. 153. National Labor Relations Board. 154. National Labor Relations Board; eligibility for reappointment; officers and employees; payment of expenses. 155. National Labor Relations Board; principal of- fice, conducting inquiries throughout coun- try; participation in decisions or inquiries conducted by member. 156. Rules and regulations. 157. Right of employees as to organization, collec- tive bargaining, etc. 158. Unfair labor practices. 158a. Providing facilities for operations of Federal Credit Unions. 159. Representatives and elections. 160. Prevention of unfair labor practices. 161. Investigatory powers of Board. 162. Offenses and penalties. 163. Right to strike preserved. 164. Construction of provisions. 165. Conflict of laws. 166. Separability. 167. Short title of subchapter. 168. Validation of certificates and other Board ac- tions. 169. Employees with religious convictions; pay- ment of dues and fees. SUBCHAPTER III—CONCILIATION OF LABOR DISPUTES; NATIONAL EMERGENCIES 171. Declaration of purpose and policy. 172. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. 173. Functions of Service. 174. Co-equal obligations of employees, their rep- resentatives, and management to minimize labor disputes. 175. National Labor-Management Panel; creation and composition; appointment, tenure, and compensation; duties. 175a. Assistance to plant, area, and industrywide labor management committees. 176. National emergencies; appointment of board of inquiry by President; report; contents; filing with Service. 177. Board of inquiry. 178. Injunctions during national emergency. 179. Injunctions during national emergency; ad- justment efforts by parties during injunc- tion period. 180. Discharge of injunction upon certification of results of election or settlement; report to Congress. 181. Compilation of collective bargaining agree- ments, etc.; use of data. 182. Exemption of Railway Labor Act from sub- chapter. 183. Conciliation of labor disputes in the health care industry. SUBCHAPTER IV—LIABILITIES OF AND RESTRICTIONS ON LABOR AND MANAGEMENT 185. Suits by and against labor organizations. 186. Restrictions on financial transactions. 187. Unlawful activities or conduct; right to sue; jurisdiction; limitations; damages. 188. Repealed. SUBCHAPTER V—CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COM- MITTEE ON LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS 191 to 197. Omitted. SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS § 141. Short title; Congressional declaration of purpose and policy (a) This chapter may be cited as the ‘‘Labor Management Relations Act, 1947’’. (b) Industrial strife which interferes with the normal flow of commerce and with the full pro- duction of articles and commodities for com- merce, can be avoided or substantially mini- mized if employers, employees, and labor organi- zations each recognize under law one another’s legitimate rights in their relations with each other, and above all recognize under law that neither party has any right in its relations with any other to engage in acts or practices which jeopardize the public health, safety, or interest. It is the purpose and policy of this chapter, in order to promote the full flow of commerce, to prescribe the legitimate rights of both employ- ees and employers in their relations affecting commerce, to provide orderly and peaceful pro- cedures for preventing the interference by either with the legitimate rights of the other, to pro- tect the rights of individual employees in their relations with labor organizations whose activi- ties affect commerce, to define and proscribe practices on the part of labor and management which affect commerce and are inimical to the general welfare, and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes affect- ing commerce. (June 23, 1947, ch. 120, § 1, 61 Stat. 136.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original ‘‘This Act’’ meaning act June 23, 1947, ch. 120, 61 Stat. 136, which is classified principally to this sub- chapter and subchapters III (§ 171 et seq.) and IV (§ 185 et seq.) of this chapter. For complete classification of this act to the Code, see Tables. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE OF 1978 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 95–524, § 6(a), Oct. 27, 1978, 92 Stat. 2020, pro- vided that: ‘‘This section [enacting section 175a of this title, amending sections 173 and 186 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 175a of this title] may be cited as the ‘Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978’.’’ NATIONAL COMMISSION ON TECHNOLOGY, AUTOMATION, AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS Pub. L. 88–444, Aug. 19, 1964, 78 Stat. 462, established the National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress, to make a comprehensive and impartial study and make recommendations from time to time as needed for constructive action. The Commis- sion was directed to submit a final report of its findings and recommendations to the President and the Con- gress by January 1, 1966, and ceased 30 days after sub- mitting its final report. Executive Documents EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 10918 Ex. Ord. No. 10918, Feb. 16, 1961, 26 F.R. 1427, which es- tablished the President’s Advisory Committee on Labor-Management Policy, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 11710, Apr. 4, 1973, 38 F.R. 9071, formerly set out below. EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 11710 Ex. Ord. No. 11710, Apr. 4, 1973, 38 F.R. 9071, as amend- ed by Ex. Ord. No. 11729, July 12, 1973, 38 F.R. 18863, which established the National Commission for Indus- trial Peace, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 11823, Dec. 12, 1974, 39 F.R. 43529. Page 35 TITLE 29—LABOR § 141 EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 11809 Ex. Ord. No. 11809, Sept. 30, 1974, 39 F.R. 35565, which established the President’s Labor-Management Com- mittee, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 11948, Dec. 20, 1976, 41 F.R. 55705, formerly set out as a note under section 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employ- ees. EX. ORD. NO. 14025. WORKER ORGANIZING AND EMPOWERMENT Ex. Ord. No. 14025, Apr. 26, 2021, 86 F.R. 22829, pro- vided: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Policy and Findings. The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 [et seq.]) proclaims that the policy of the United States is to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining and to promote equality of bargaining power between employers and employees. In the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (5 U.S.C. 7101(a)(1)), the Congress found that ‘‘experience in both private and public em- ployment indicates that the statutory protection of the right of employees to organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their own choosing in decisions which affect them . . . safe- guards the public interest, . . . contributes to the ef- fective conduct of public business, and . . . facilitates and encourages the amicable settlements of disputes between employees and their employers involving con- ditions of employment.’’ In the past few decades, the Federal Government has not used its full authority to promote and implement this policy of support for workers organizing unions and bargaining collectively with their employers. Dur- ing this period, economic change in the United States and globally, technological developments, and the fail- ure to modernize Federal organizing and labor-manage- ment relations laws to respond appropriately to the re- ality found in American workplaces, have made worker organizing exceedingly difficult. The result has been a steady decline in union density in the United States and the loss of worker power and voice in workplaces and communities across the coun- try. This decline has had a host of negative con- sequences for American workers and the economy, in- cluding weakening and shrinking America’s middle class. Meanwhile, some workers have been excluded from opportunities to organize unions and bargain col- lectively with their employers by law or practice, and so have never been able to build meaningful economic power or have a voice in their workplaces. Confirming the policies declared in Federal labor laws, substantial evidence shows that union member- ship increases wages, the likelihood of receiving em- ployer-provided benefits, and job security. Union mem- bership also gives workers the means to build the power to ensure that their voices are heard in their workplaces, their communities, and in the Nation. Therefore, it is the policy of my Administration to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining. SEC. 2. Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empower- ment. There is hereby established within the Executive Office of the President the Task Force on Worker Orga- nizing and Empowerment (Task Force). (a) The Vice President shall serve as Chair of the Task Force. In addition to the Vice President, the Task Force shall consist of the following officials or their designees: (i) the Secretary of Labor, who shall serve as Vice Chair of the Task Force; (ii) the Secretary of the Treasury; (iii) the Secretary of Defense; (iv) the Secretary of the Interior; (v) the Secretary of Agriculture; (vi) the Secretary of Commerce; (vii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (viii) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment; (ix) the Secretary of Transportation; (x) the Secretary of Energy; (xi) the Secretary of Education; (xii) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (xiii) the Secretary of Homeland Security; (xiv) the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency; (xv) the Administrator of General Services; (xvi) the Administrator of the Small Business Admin- istration; (xvii) the United States Trade Representative; (xviii) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; (xix) the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage- ment; (xx) the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; (xxi) the Assistant to the President for Domestic Pol- icy; (xxii) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; (xxiii) the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor; and (xxiv) the heads of such other executive departments, agencies, and offices as the President may from time to time designate upon the recommendation of the Chair of the Task Force. (b) The Task Force and its members shall identify ex- ecutive branch policies, practices, and programs that could be used, consistent with applicable law, to pro- mote my Administration’s policy of support for worker power, worker organizing, and collective bargaining. This identification shall include policies, practices, and programs that could be used to promote worker power in areas of the country with hostile labor laws, for marginalized workers (including women and persons of color) and hard-to-organize industries, and in changing industries. The Task Force and its members also shall identify statutory, regulatory, or other changes that may be necessary to make policies, practices, and pro- grams more effective means of supporting worker orga- nizing and collective bargaining. (c) The functions of the Task Force are advisory in nature only; the purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations regarding changes to policies, prac- tices, programs, and other changes that would serve the objectives of this order. (d) The Task Force should invite the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Labor Relations Author- ity, the National Mediation Board, and other executive agencies, boards, and commissions with responsibility for implementing laws concerning worker organizing and collective bargaining to consult, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, with the Task Force. (e) The Chair may establish such sub-committees or other working groups composed of Task Force members or their representatives as may be necessary to accom- plish the objectives of this order. (f) Consistent with the objectives of this order and applicable law, the Task Force may gather relevant in- formation from labor organizations, other worker advo- cates, academic and other experts, and other entities and persons it identifies that will assist the Task Force in accomplishing the objectives of this order. (g) The Task Force shall, within 180 days of the date of this order [Apr. 26, 2021], submit to the President rec- ommendations for actions as described in subsection (b) of this section to promote worker organizing and col- lective bargaining in the public and private sectors, and to increase union density. The Task Force may, at the Chair’s discretion, recommend appropriate or time- sensitive individual actions to promote worker orga- nizing and collective bargaining before the deadline es- tablished by this section. The Task Force and its mem- bers shall work to implement all recommendations that the President may approve, to the extent per- mitted by law, and shall report their progress as di- rected by the Chair. SEC. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order: (a) ‘‘Policies, practices, and programs’’ includes regu- lations; guidance and other formal policy documents; Page 36 TITLE 29—LABOR § 142 procurements; grants and other direct or indirect Fed- eral investments; tax and trade administration and en- forcement; administration and enforcement of labor, employment, and other relevant laws; property man- agement; and human resources management and labor relations. (b) ‘‘Worker organizing and collective bargaining’’ encompasses the private sector, State and local govern- ments, and the Federal Government. It also includes those sectors of the economy and those workers who have not historically been able to unionize, or whose ability to effectively collectively bargain or organize has been undermined. (c) the term ‘‘agency’’ refers to all agencies described in section 3502(1) of title 44, United States Code, except for the agencies described in section 3502(5) of title 44. SEC. 4. Revocations. (a) Executive Order 13845 of July 19, 2018 (Establishing the President’s National Council for the American Worker) [former 29 U.S.C. 3101 note], and Executive Order 13931 of June 26, 2020 (Continuing the President’s National Council for the American Worker and the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board) [former 29 U.S.C. 3101 note], are revoked. (b) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the heads of executive departments and agencies shall promptly consider taking steps to re- scind any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or poli- cies, or portions thereof, implementing or enforcing Executive Order 13845 or Executive Order 13931, as ap- propriate and consistent with applicable law, including the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.). In addition, they shall abolish any personnel positions, committees, task forces, or other entities established pursuant to Executive Order 13845 or Executive Order 13931, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. SEC. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive de- partment or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Man- agement and Budget relating to budgetary, administra- tive, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appro- priations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforce- able at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. J.R. BIDEN, JR. § 142. Definitions When used in this chapter— (1) The term ‘‘industry affecting commerce’’ means any industry or activity in commerce or in which a labor dispute would burden or obstruct commerce or tend to burden or ob- struct commerce or the free flow of commerce. (2) The term ‘‘strike’’ includes any strike or other concerted stoppage of work by employ- ees (including a stoppage by reason of the ex- piration of a collective-bargaining agreement) and any concerted slowdown or other con- certed interruption of operations by employ- ees. (3) The terms ‘‘commerce’’, ‘‘labor disputes’’, ‘‘employer’’, ‘‘employee’’, ‘‘labor organiza- tion’’, ‘‘representative’’, ‘‘person’’, and ‘‘super- visor’’ shall have the same meaning as when used in subchapter II of this chapter. (June 23, 1947, ch. 120, title V, § 501, 61 Stat. 161.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Subchapter II of this chapter, referred to in par. (3), was in the original ‘‘the National Labor Relations Act as amended by this Act’’ [29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.]. § 143. Saving provisions Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require an individual employee to render labor or service without his consent, nor shall any- thing in this chapter be construed to make the quitting of his labor by an individual employee an illegal act; nor shall any court issue any process to compel the performance by an indi- vidual employee of such labor or service, with- out his consent; nor shall the quitting of labor by an employee or employees in good faith be- cause of abnormally dangerous conditions for work at the place of employment of such em- ployee or employees be deemed a strike under this chapter. (June 23, 1947, ch. 120, title V, § 502, 61 Stat. 162.) § 144. Separability If any provision of this chapter, or the applica- tion of such provision to any person or cir- cumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this chapter, or the application of such provi- sion to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby. (June 23, 1947, ch. 120, title V, § 503, 61 Stat. 162.) SUBCHAPTER II—NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS Editorial Notes CODIFICATION This subchapter is comprised of the National Labor Relations Act, and is not part of the Labor Manage- ment Relations Act, 1947, which comprises this chapter. § 151. Findings and declaration of policy The denial by some employers of the right of employees to organize and the refusal by some employers to accept the procedure of collective bargaining lead to strikes and other forms of in- dustrial strife or unrest, which have the intent or the necessary effect of burdening or obstruct- ing commerce by (a) impairing the efficiency, safety, or operation of the instrumentalities of commerce; (b) occurring in the current of com- merce; (c) materially affecting, restraining, or controlling the flow of raw materials or manu- factured or processed goods from or into the channels of commerce, or the prices of such ma- terials 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 chan- nels of commerce. The inequality of bargaining power between employees who do not possess full freedom of as- sociation or actual liberty of contract, and em- ployers who are organized in the corporate or other forms of ownership association substan- tially burdens and affects the flow of commerce, and tends to aggravate recurrent business de-