NLRB Informs Non-Union Employees of Potential Right to Engage in Disruptive Activities

Employment Law

In its continuing effort to expand its influence in situations where a union neither exists nor is being actively organized, the National Labor Relations Board has launched a webpage to publicize to employees their right to engage in “protected concerted activities,” while noting that they “may” lose this right if they engage in such actions as “sabotaging equipment, threatening violence, spreading lies about a product, or revealing trade secrets.”  The webpage accurately notes that employees have “the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions or fix job-related problems, even if they aren't in a union.”  The webpage includes a number of examples drawn from real NLRB cases—such as employees walking off the job to protest changes in workplace policies—but does not include examples of those who lost the protection by going too far.  Describing the need for the webpage, NLRB Chairman Mark Pearce said: “A right only has value when people know it exists.  We think the right to engage in protected concerted activity is one of the best kept secrets of the National Labor Relations Act, and more important than ever in these difficult economic times.  Our hope is that other workers will see themselves in the cases we’ve selected and understand that they do have strength in numbers.”