Suppose you are among those who believe that the NLRA needs to be strengthened and reinforced. What kinds of changes might you advocate? Consider both legal decisions and legislative changes.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The two main perspectives on strengthening the NLRA focus on either changing court interpretation of existing law (i.e., overturning prior case decisions) or changing the law itself. The first approach would focus on educating judges about labor issues and the historical intent of the NLRA in the hopes that future decisions would undo some of the damage. For example, the Mackay Radio decision as it pertains to permanent strike replacements in economic strikes could be challenged and overturned. The more common view, however, is that the law itself needs to change. Changes could either be remedial (i.e., small, incremental changes that focus on issues such as stronger monetary penalties, reduced election delays) or substantive (expanding NLRA coverage, removing restrictions on secondary boycotts, widening the list of mandatory bargaining items, changing representation election procedures, and eliminating strike replacements).