Preface to the Fourth Edition

Abstract

The period of time between the third and fourth editions constitutes the longest period between any of the editions of this book published thus far. Much of the discussion of the National Labor Relations Act relates to decisions and policy changes instituted by the National Labor Relations Board when I was its Chairman, appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton on June 28, 1993, and confirmed by the Senate on March 2, 1994. As noted in this fourth edition, perhaps the most important development during my tenure was a sharp and unprecedented upsurge in cases brought under the Board’s injunctive authority set forth in Section 10(j). The focus on the NLRA in this edition is also upon a number of important policy decisions issued during my tenure as well as those submitted to the Board while I was Chairman, but decided only subsequent to my departure. Similarly, there is discussion of Supreme Court decisions involving the National Labor Relations Act both prior and subsequent to my tenure. I have chronicled the events preceding my appointment, between appointment and confirmation, and during my four and a half years as Chairman in Labored Relations: Law, Politics, and the NLRB – A Memoir . Insofar as relevant to the work of the National Labor Relations Act, this fourth edition attempts to chronicle only the decisions and policy changes without reference to much of the political drama surrounding them. For the latter, the reader can consult Labored Relations . For the same basic reasons alluded to in earlier editions, union representation during these past eleven years has continued to decline to 13.5 percent, 9 percent in the private sector and 37.4 percent in the public sector. As was the case in previous editions, courts of general jurisdiction at the state level have continued to establish job security rights as an exception to the principle that the contract of employment is terminable at will. In the 1990s and at the turn of the century, however, the courts have begun to address employer-devised arbitration procedures designed to substitute that forum for individual claims involving unfair dismissals for courts and jury trials. This constitutes one of the new frontiers of not only judicial decision making but also the policy debate in the political arena.