The Antitrust Laws

The American government has engaged in the development of creating and enforcing legislation as the course of action for everyone to follow when dealing with labor issues and the workforce. In my research I found several pieces of legislation such as the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Clayton Act (Federal Trade Commission, n.d.), and per text the Wagner Act of 1935, and the Taft-Hartley Act (DeCenzo, 2016).
Congress passed these legislation as the determining element in how much control that management and/or unions would have in protecting the rights of the workers and the organizations.The US government has been tangled in the development of acting as a intermediary among the corporations and unions with labor clashes. In the 1800’s, there wasn’t many laws that would govern how unions would operate within the organization.
So in the early stages of unions organizations thought that the unions were illegal and that they would interfere with the progress of the organization.The Sherman Antitrust Act was the initial legislation implemented that shaped labor unions. This act was critical to the corporation because it prevented any “restraint of commerce across state lines and the courts ruled that union strikes or boycotts would be covered by the law”.

There are two additional act of the Sherman Act, they are the Federal Trade Commission Act the prohibit bias procedures concerning competition and misleading forms of practice, the Clayton Act focuses on certain issues such as mergers and joining boards members . A main strike between the Pullman Palace Car Company and the American Railway Union, where workers walked off of the job, because wages was cut by as much as forty percent.
At that time the organization was able to obtain an ruling that prevented both the walk-out and boycott. And because of this labor unions discovered that it would be harder to organize successfully (Shmoop, 2018).The National Labor Relation Act of 1935, which is also known as the Wagner Act was endorsed to protect both employers, and employees, it is the main key for union rights.
The Wagner Act distinctively insist that employers should bargain in excellent confidence on issues such as wages, hours, and employment environments. This gave unions control over bias labor habits. Therefore, the Wagner Act empowered unions to be able to grow and advance, plus to establish unions permitting them to protect and bargain together, which means the workforce has the right to come as one to make their demands known even without a union (DeCenzo, 2016) (Shmoop, 2018).
Because the Wagner Act sheltered the unions it led to the Taft-Hartley Act which is known as the Labor-Management Act (DeCenzo, 2016). This act covered the concerns of the employer in preventing bias practices of the unions. It prohibited closed stops by declaring them illegal and empowering the states to pass laws that would decrease mandatory union representation.
It also, disallowed secondary boycotts by giving the president authority whenever differences may influence national security. Both parties must bargain in “good faith” by coming to the table intending to reach an agreement. But if they don’t reach one the Taft-Hartley developed the FMCS to help in the talks (DeCenzo, 2016).
All of these laws are very important to the corporations and unions since they’re the source of the relationship that is among the workforce and the employer. While the NLRA has changed over time it is very important because it includes how both should work together throughout the bargaining process. And how the Taft-Hartley manages the length of the relationship. But they safeguard that everyone should work collectively throughout the conditions of the association.
As a result unionized workers through combined efforts of both the union and organizations cooperative bargaining have produced better wages, benefits , safe environment, and health conditions for the workforce. They have also included better opportunities for the non-unionized workers (Walters, 2003).
References

DeCenzo, D. A. (2016).Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 12th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc.Federal Trade Commission. (n.d.).
Retrieved from The Antitrust Laws: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/antitrust-lawsShmoop. (2018).
Retrieved from History of Labor Unions: https://www.shmoop.com/history-labor-unions/law.htmlWalters, M. a. (2003, 8 26). Economic Policy Institute.
Retrieved from How unions help all workers: https://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp143/..