Rights of Union Members

by Eugene Boggs

Overview

By law, U.S. unions operate democratically. An entrenched, corrupt, unresponsive leadership thwarts the membership's will (and distorts the collective-bargaining process). Congress' answer has been a Union Members' Bill of Rights.
History

In the 1950s, public concern grew about union corruption and organized crime involvement. In 1959, Congress responded with the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, commonly known as the Landrum-Griffin Act (LMRDA).

Significance

LMRDA mandated unprecedented union compliance with a broad range of operational transparency and internal governance requirements designed to disclose and eliminate corrupt practices, and also to promote membership participation.
Function

The Union Members' Bill of Rights (emphasizing meeting and election participation protections) specifically encouraged grass-roots union democracy that would, in theory, allow unions to "clean house" from within.
Types

Rights guaranteed include equal participation by members in union affairs, secret-ballot elections, protection from retaliatory union discipline, the ability to sue one's union for noncompliance and access to union contracts.
Considerations

The enforcement provisions are cumbersome and expensive to use. Usually, a member must go through whatever union-grievance procedure that exists before filing a lawsuit. That member must personally bear the costs (including lawyers' fees) of the enforcement effort.