You own a small contracting business,
and the closest your employees have
ever come to a union is wearing
clothes with a union label. So you
don't have to worry about disciplining
or firing employees who complain
about working conditions, salary, or
vacations—right?
Wrong. Nonunion employees may be
protected by the National Labor Relations
Act (NLRA), which provides all
employees certain rights and protections.
Under the NLRA, employees not
only have the right to form and join
labor organizations, but they also have
the right to join together informally to
engage in "concerted activities."
Concerted activity is basically a
more informal type of collective bargaining
than the kind pursued by
unions for their members. Essentially, it
is any action taken by