Legal Definitions - Landrum–Griffin Act

The Landrum–Griffin Act, officially known as the Labor–Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), is a federal law in the United States. It was enacted primarily to address concerns about corruption and lack of democracy within labor unions and to regulate certain union activities.

The Act has three main objectives:

• To ensure that labor unions operate democratically and transparently, protecting the rights of individual union members. This includes provisions for fair elections, financial accountability of union leaders, and access to union information for members.
• To outlaw certain types of "secondary boycotts," which occur when a union pressures a neutral third-party business to stop dealing with an employer with whom the union has a primary dispute.
• To prevent "hot-cargo" provisions in collective bargaining agreements, which are clauses where an employer agrees with a union not to handle or use goods from another employer with whom the union has a dispute.

Here are some examples illustrating the Landrum–Griffin Act:

• Example 1: Union Member Rights and Transparency

  Imagine members of the "United Auto Workers Local 123" union suspect their president and treasurer are misusing union funds, perhaps by spending excessive amounts on personal travel or luxury items, and that the last union election was rigged. The Landrum–Griffin Act empowers these members to demand access to the union's financial records, challenge election irregularities through the Department of Labor, and even file a lawsuit if their rights to a democratic and financially transparent union are violated. The Act ensures that union leaders are accountable to their members and that elections are conducted fairly.

• Example 2: Prohibiting Secondary Boycotts

  Suppose employees at "TechGadget Manufacturing" go on strike over a wage dispute. To increase pressure on TechGadget, their union decides to picket "QuickShip Logistics," a company that transports TechGadget's finished products to retailers. QuickShip Logistics has no dispute with its own employees or with TechGadget; it is merely a neutral business providing services. The Landrum–Griffin Act makes this picketing of QuickShip Logistics illegal because it constitutes a "secondary boycott." The union's primary dispute is with TechGadget, and it cannot lawfully pressure an unrelated third party like QuickShip Logistics to cease doing business with TechGadget.

• Example 3: Preventing Hot-Cargo Agreements

  Consider "BuildRight Construction," a company that has a collective bargaining agreement with a local carpenters' union. The union is currently in a dispute with "LumberCorp," a lumber supplier, over LumberCorp's labor practices. The union attempts to include a clause in BuildRight's contract stating that BuildRight will not purchase or use any lumber supplied by LumberCorp. The Landrum–Griffin Act prohibits such a "hot-cargo" agreement. BuildRight cannot legally agree with the union to boycott LumberCorp, as this would force BuildRight to cease doing business with another company due to a union's dispute with that company, rather than a direct dispute with BuildRight itself.