Labor Reform Act of 1977
The Labor Reform Act of 1978 was a proposed United States Act of Congress that never came into force. It would have altered the labor legislation to bring it in line with modern developments and international standards, by removing obstacles from employers to unions formation in the workplace.
Overview
The 1977 Act would have made the following changes.
- amended the National Labor Relations Act to increase the size of the National Labor Relations Board to seven members and the terms of Board members to seven years.
- directed the Board to issue rules to protect specified rights of employee and labor organizations, facilitate the resolution voter eligibility disputes, and govern elections in cases in which an appeal had not been decided before the date of election.
- created faster elections where a majority of members of a bargaining unit sought recognition of a union or de-certification of an existing union.
- specified damages where there was an unlawful refusal to bargain prior to entry into a first bargaining contract.
- provided for expedited consideration and relief from certain alleged unfair labor practices which resulted in a deprivation of employment.
- denied, for up to three years public contracts to persons willfully violating final orders regarding unfair labor practices.
The Fair Labor Standards Act: Passed in Congress in 1938, this act set a national minimum wage rate of 25 cents per hour. It applied to an estimated 43.3% of employees in private, nonagricultural work and gradually grew to cover nearly 90%. State minimum wage laws cover most remaining employees. Effective July 24, 2008, the federal minimum was $6.55 per hour and became $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009, a 29-fold increase over the first minimum wage in 1938.[13] A 90-day beginners' minimum of $4.25 per hour applies to workers under age 20. Covered "nonexempt" employees must be paid overtime rates of one-and-a-half times the regular pay rate for any hours over 40 in a seven-day period. Generally, the minimum wage has fluctuated between 35 and 50% of the average hourly wage in manufacturing.[1]
See also
- Employee Free Pie Act
- US labor law
- UK labour law