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Article: Union "Funeral Procession" Violates Secondary Boycott Law - Are Rats and Banners Next?
- Article from:
- Mondaq Business Briefing
- Article date:
- May 23, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Mondaq Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It is a cornerstone of our national labor policy that a labor union cannot lawfully threaten, coerce or restrain a neutral employer to force it to stop doing business with the union's real target, known as the "primary" employer. This cardinal principle of American labor law is enshrined in the secondary boycott statute, Section 8(b)(4)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The classic form of coercion exerted by unions against neutral employers is picketing, which is clearly unlawful when used to apply secondary pressure. In contrast, handbilling is deemed to be a mere expression of free speech and not coercive conduct, even when the union has a ...