Labor Law Protects Employer and Employee in Case of a Wrongdoing

Labor law is also known as employment law in some parts of the
world. These terms can be used interchangeably as they are used
to refer to the same thing. Labor law is a broad category that
encompasses all area of employer/employee relations. Labor law
also includes the negotiation processes and collective
bargaining. The purpose of labor law is to protect the employer
and the employee in the case of a wrongdoing. 

The present day labor law dates back to the 1930's. The 1930's
have been called the New Deal era. It was during this time that
Congress acted to raise minimum wage there was reconsideration
of the labor laws that were affecting both private and public
sector employees. There have been no major new laws that have
been passed over the last few decades. 

Early Labor Laws

Some of the early labor laws included the following:

The Clayton Act:

The Act stated, "The labor of a human being is not commodity or
article of commerce," and provided further that nothing
contained in The Federal antitrust laws: shall be construed to
forbid the existence and operation of labor... organizations...
nor shall such organizations, or the Members thereof, be held or
construed to be illegal combinations or Conspiracies in
restraint of trade under the anti-trust laws. 

The Railway Act:

This Act was passed in 1926. It required those employers to
bargain collectively and prohibiting discrimination against
unions. It applied originally to interstate railroads and their
related undertakings. It was amended in 1936 to include
airlines. 

 Acts forbidden under the labor law

1) Dominating or otherwise interfering with formation of a labor
union, including the provision of any financial or other support.

 2) Interfering with or restraining employees engaged in the
exercise of their rights to organize and bargain collectively.
3) Imposing any special conditions of employment, which tended
either to encourage or discourage union membership. The law
stated, however, that this provision should be construed to
prohibit union contracts requiring union membership as a
condition of employment in a company -- a provision that, in
effect, permitted the closed and union shops. (In the former,
only pre-existing members of the union could be hired, in the
latter. new employees were required to join the union.)

 4) Discharging or discriminating against an employee because he
had given testimony or filed charges under the Act.

5) Refusing to bargain collectively with unions representing a
Company's employees