Abstract
Congress has neglected the federal labor rights of construction workers for half a century. Back in 1959, Congress addressed the needs of construction workers and attempted to ensure that those workers, who were hired by construction employers for erratic and short periods of time, retained the right to organize in unions. To that end, Congress added section 8(f) to the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), authorizing construction employers and unions to enter voluntarily into prehire collective bargaining agreements covering construction workers. Additionally, Congress included a proviso permitting employers to require, as a condition of employment, that their employees join the 8(f) union within seven days from the start of work provided that no state right-to-work laws were violated. To date, section 8(f) is Congress' only exception to its requirement that the union obtain the support of a majority of employees before bargaining with an employer. Section 8(f) has neither been modified nor critically reviewed by Congress since its enactment in 1959.
Repository Citation
Desiree LeClercq,
Section 8(F) Prehire Agreements and the Exception to Majority Representation: Are Construction Workers Getting the Shaft?
, 27 Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal 51
(2009),
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/fac_artchop/1682