Running head: LABOR RELATIONS DISCUSSION FOUR 1

LABOR RELATIONS DISCUSSION FOUR 4

A bargaining impasse occurs, employees go on strike. What forms of strikes are protected by the NLRA? Not protected? Does this make sense or should all types of strikes be treated equally?

Under the NLRA the following strikes are protected: Economics strikes, Recognition strikes, Unfair labor practice strikes, and Sympathy/Wildcat strikes (sometimes). The last two are based on what the no-strike clause states in their contract. Then we have the strikes that are not protected which are: Jurisdictional strikes, Noneconomic strikes, and General or political strikes.

Economic strikes are over wages, benefits, and work rules during contract negotiations (Budd, 2017). Unfair labor practice strikes are more of a protest against an employer’s unfair labor practices (Budd, 2017). We see from the reading that these two are considered the safest of the five. As with these two workers cannot be disciplined or discharged.

I personally think that all strikes should be fine. Sometimes higher-ups don’t here you even though they say they are listening. If people can’t be heard they have to find a differ more efficient way of communicating what they are trying to get across. Furthermore, Wildcats are useful for workers in a variety of situations. The most obvious is when the strike’s impact has an immediate and disproportionate relation to the number of workers taking part, as, for example, in transport (air, rail, road, sea), newspapers, letter and parcel delivery, construction, and vehicle manufacture. The immediate impact of the wildcat is strengthened because, in these examples, the delivery of a service or product either is time-sensitive or has no substitute (Gall, 2019).

References

Budd, J. (2017). Labor Relations: Striking a Balance, 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Gall, G. (2019). Wildcat strikes. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/wildcat-strike