Legal Definitions - featherbedding

Featherbedding refers to a labor union practice where a union requires an employer to hire or retain more employees than are genuinely necessary to perform a particular task or operate a business efficiently. The primary goal of featherbedding is typically to increase employment opportunities for union members and enhance their job security, often in situations where new technologies or improved processes might otherwise reduce the need for labor.

While federal law restricts such practices, it is generally considered an "unfair labor practice" only when a union demands payment from an employer for work that is not performed or is not intended to be performed.

Here are some examples to illustrate featherbedding:

• Imagine a manufacturing plant that installs new, automated robotic arms capable of assembling products much faster and with fewer human operators. The union representing the factory workers negotiates a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that requires the company to keep the same number of assembly line workers employed, even though the new machinery significantly reduces the actual need for manual labor. These additional workers might be assigned to perform minimal oversight tasks or simply stand by.

  This illustrates featherbedding because the union is requiring the employer to retain more employees than are functionally necessary for the automated production process, primarily to preserve jobs for its members.

• Consider a television production studio that adopts a new, highly integrated camera system for live broadcasts, which can be fully operated by a single technician. However, the union representing camera operators insists that two technicians must always be assigned to operate this camera system, citing historical staffing levels for older, more complex equipment, even though one technician is perfectly capable of handling all functions of the new system.

  This demonstrates featherbedding because the union mandates a larger crew than is technically required for the equipment, thereby increasing employment beyond the efficient operational need.

• A construction company begins using pre-fabricated wall sections that arrive at the job site fully assembled and ready for immediate installation. Despite this, the union contract stipulates that a separate crew of carpenters must be on-site to "inspect" and "prepare" these sections before the installation crew can begin, even if no actual work beyond a cursory visual check is required.

  This is an example of featherbedding because the union requires additional employees for tasks that are either unnecessary or already completed by the pre-fabrication process, effectively increasing the number of workers beyond what is genuinely needed for the job.