Labor unions have a long and colorful history in the United States. To some people, they conjure up thoughts of organized crime and gangsters like Jimmy Hoffa. To others, labor unions represent solidarity among the working classes, bringing people together across many professions to lobby for better rights, wages and benefits. As of 2006, 15.4 million people were union members, and although union membership peaked in 1945 when 35 percent of the nonagricultural workforce were union members, unions are still a powerful influence in the United States (and even more powerful in many other countries). (Silverman, J., 2012) They are also an important and fundamental part of the history of United States commerce and the country’s growth into an economic powerhouse.
Unions began forming in the mid-19th century in response to the social and economic impact of the industrial revolution. National labor unions began to form in the post-Civil War Era. The Knights of Labor emerged as a major force in the late 1880s, but it collapsed because of poor organization, lack of effective leadership, disagreement over goals, and strong opposition from employers and government forces. (Silverman, J., 2012) The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1886 and led by Samuel Gompers until his death in 1924, proved much more durable. It arose as a loose coalition of various local unions. (Silverman, J., 2012) It helped coordinate and support strikes and eventually became a major player in national politics, usually on the side of the Democrats. American labor unions benefitted greatly from the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s. (Silverman, J., 2012) The Wagner Act, in particular, legally protected the right of unions to organize. Unions from this point developed increasingly closer ties to the Democratic Party, and are considered a backbone element of the New Deal Coalition. The power and success of labor unions continued to grow after World War II, but faced stiff resistance from conservative, "free market" business interests, represented politically by the Republican Party. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, for example, was a conservative anti-union law that contained numerous measures to weaken unions (for example, by banning union contributions to political candidates and restricting the power of unions to engage in strikes that "threatened national security")(O. Reynolds, M., 2008). Unions were further weakened in the 1950s by highly publicized reports of corruption in the Teamsters and other unions. (Silverman, J., 2012)

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT History has shown that organization has been an effective way for working people to change their social environment and to protect their interests. The story of workers' efforts to form labor organizations is long and filled with struggles. From a legal point of view, labor organizations have moved from being outlawed as criminal conspiracy in the nineteenth century to being highly regulated by law today. The NLRA was enacted by Congress in 1935. It was hailed at the time and for many years after as the Magna Carta of America labor. Previously, employers had been free to spy on, interrogate, discipline, discharge, and blacklist union members. But in the 1930's workers began to organize militantly. (Richard A, July 1983) A great strike wave in 1933 and 1934 included citywide general strikes and factory takeovers. (Richard A, July 1983)Violent confrontations occurred between workers trying to form unions and the police and private security forces defending the interests of anti-union employers.

The NLRA guaranteed workers the right to join unions without fear of management reprisal. It created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce this right and prohibited employers from committing unfair labor practices that might discourage organizing or prevent workers from negotiating a union contract. (Richard A, July 1983) The NLRA's passage galvanized union organizing. Successful campaigns soon followed in the automobile, steel, electrical, manufacturing, and rubber industries. By 1945, union membership reached 35% of the work-force. (Richard A, July 1983) In reaction, industrialists, and other opponents of organized labor sought to weaken the NLRA. They succeeded in 1947 with the passage of the Taft-Hartly Act, which added provisions to the NLRA allowing unions to be prosecuted, enjoined, and sued for a variety of activities, including mass picketing and secondary boycotts. (Richard A, July 1983) The last major revision of the NLRA occurred in 1959, when Congress imposed further restrictions on unions in the Landrum-Griffin Act.

The most important sections of the NLRA are Sections 7, 8, and 9
Section 7, is the heart of the NLRA. It defines protected activity. Stripped to its essential, it reads: Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection. Section 7 applies to a wide range of union collective activities. In addition to organizing, it protects employees who take part in grievances, on-the-job protests, picketing, and strikes. Section 8 defines employer unfair labor practices
Five types of conduct are made illegal:. * Employer interference, restraint, or coercion directed against union or collective activity (Section 8(a)(1)) * Employer domination of unions (Section 8(a)(2)) * Employer discrimination against employees who take part in union or collective activities (Section 8(a)(3)) * Employer retaliation for filing unfair-labor-practice charges or cooperating with the NLRB (Section 8(a)(4)) * Employer refusal to bargain in good faith with union representatives (Section 8(a)(5)) (Richard A, July 1983)
Threats, warnings, and orders to refrain from protected activities are forms of interference and coercion that violate Section 8(a) (1). Disciplinary actions, such as suspensions, discharges, transfers, and demotions, violate Section 8(a) (3). Failures to supply information, unilateral changes, refusals to hold grievance meetings, and direct dealings violate Section 8(a) (5). Section 8 also prohibits union unfair labor practices, which include, according to legal construction, failure to provide fair representation to all members of the bargaining unit. Section 9 provides that unions, if certified or recognized, are the exclusive representatives of bargaining unit members. (Richard A, July 1983) It prohibits the adjustment of employee grievances unless a union representative is given an opportunity to be present, and establishes procedures to vote on union representation. The NLRA sets out general rights and obligation. Enforcing the Act in particular situations is the job of the NLRB.

UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE
The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Statute) creates rights and obligations on the part of unions, agency management, and employees. If either labor or management fails to perform its obligation to the other party, an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge may be filed. (Freeman, Richard B., and James L. Medoff, 1984) A ULP charge may also be filed if either labor or management interferes with the rights each has been given under the Statute. Employees may also protect their rights under the Statute by filing ULP charges against labor or management. (Freeman, Richard B., and James L. Medoff, 1984) For example, it is illegal for agency management to threaten or retaliate against employees for seeking union representation or to refuse to provide union information that the law requires the agency to provide. Similarly, unions may not try to influence management to discipline employees who did not join the union or refuse to represent employees because they are not union members. Neither an agency nor a union may refuse to bargain with the other in good faith. You can find out information about how the Authority has interpreted and applied the Statute to specific situations by searching Authority decisions; you can find additional information on specific subjects by searching the Office of the General Counsel Historical Guidance and Case Law Outline. (Freeman, Richard B., and James L. Medoff, 1984)

Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is the process in which working people, through their unions, negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, ways to balance work and family and more. Collective bargaining is a way to solve workplace problems. After the rights of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life came under attack in 2010, working people in all kinds of jobs as well as students, community supporters, faith leaders and others united to defend this basic right.(Hutt, William H, 1973) The United States has long lagged behind other industrialized nations in collective bargaining coverage for public- and private-sector workers. Yet the right to collectively bargain is essential so that working men and women have the strength to improve their living standards, provide for their families and build a strong middle class.
A collective bargaining agreement is the ultimate goal of the collective bargaining process. Typically, the agreement establishes wages, hours, promotions, benefits, and other employment terms as well as procedures for handling disputes arising under it. (Hutt, William H, 1973) Because the collective bargaining agreement cannot address every workplace issue that might arise in the future, unwritten customs and past practices, external law, and informal agreements are as important to the collective bargaining agreement as the written instrument itself… Zipper clause which is a provision included in collective bargaining agreements to emphasize that the written document contains the complete agreement negotiated by the parties to it, and that nothing that is excluded is agreed to unless it is put into writing, is signed by all parties, and is attached to the main agreement. Compulsory interest arbitration is available in the event of an impasse in negotiations arising in the course of the reopening of negotiations during the term of a collective bargaining agreement. (The Public Employment Law Press, 2009)
Collective bargaining allows workers and employers to reach voluntary agreement on a wide range of topics. Even so, it is limited to some extent by federal and state laws. A collective bargaining agreement cannot accomplish by contract what the law prohibits. For example, a union and an employer cannot use collective bargaining to deprive employees of rights they would otherwise enjoy under laws such as the Civil Rights statutes (Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., 415 U.S. 36, 94 S. Ct. 1011, 39 L. Ed. 2d 147 [1974]). (The Public Employment Law Press, 2009) Collective bargaining also cannot be used to waive rights or obligations that laws impose on either party. For example, an employer may not use collective bargaining to reduce the level of safety standards it must follow under the occupational safety and health act (29 U.S.C.A. §§ 651 et seq.). (Hutt, William H, 1973) Furthermore, the collective bargaining agreement is not purely voluntary. One party's failure to reach agreement entitles the other to resort to certain legal tactics, such as strikes and lockouts, to apply economic pressure and force agreement. Moreover, unlike commercial contracts governed by state law, the collective bargaining agreement is governed almost exclusively by federal Labor Law, which determines the issues that require collective bargaining, the timing and method of bargaining, and the consequences of a failure to bargain properly or to adhere to a collective bargaining agreement.

The collective bargaining process comprises of five core steps
1. Prepare: This phase involves composition of a negotiation team. The negotiation team should consist of representatives of both the parties with adequate knowledge and skills for negotiation. In this phase both the employer’s representatives and the union examine their own situation in order to develop the issues that they believe will be most important. The first thing to be done is to determine whether there is actually any reason to negotiate at all. A correct understanding of the main issues to be covered and intimate knowledge of operations, working conditions, production norms and other relevant conditions is required.
2. Discuss: Here, the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations. A process well begun is half done and this is no less true in case of collective bargaining. An environment of mutual trust and understanding is also created so that the collective bargaining agreement would be reached.
3. Propose: This phase involves the initial opening statements and the possible options that exist to resolve them. In a word, this phase could be described as ‘brainstorming’. The exchange of messages takes place and opinion of both the parties is sought.
4. Bargain: negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted. This stage comprises the time when ‘what ifs’ and ‘supposals’ are set forth and the drafting of agreements take place.
5. Settlement: Once the parties are through with the bargaining process, a consensual agreement is reached upon wherein both the parties agree to a common decision regarding the problem or the issue. This stage is described as consisting of effective joint implementation of the agreement through shared visions, strategic planning and negotiated change. (Hutt, William H, 1973)

Conclusion
For the past forty years there has been a steady decline in both union membership and influence. There are several reasons for such a decline, the first having to do with employers keeping their businesses union-free. Some were active in their opposition and even hired consultants to devise legal strategies to combat unions. Other employers put workers on the management team by appointing them to the board of directors or establishing profit-sharing plans to reward employees. The second reason for union decline is that new additions to the labor force have traditionally had little loyalty to organized labor. Because more and more women and teenagers are working and their incomes tend to be a family's second income, they have a proclivity towards accepting lower wages, thus defeating the purpose of organized labor. The third and possibly the most important reason for the decline in unions is that they are victims of their own success. Unions raised their wages substantially above the wages paid to nonunion workers. Therefore, many union-made products have become so expensive that sales were lost to less expensive foreign competitors and nonunion producers. This resulted in companies having to cut back on production, which caused some workers to lose their jobs, and hence, unions some of their members. Also, the recent shift in this country towards technology and service has made our economy less reliant in the types of industrial jobs that tended to be union strongholds. Today's worker tends to more highly educated and tends to the professional, white collar class. All of these have conspired to decrease union membership.

References
Epstein, Richard A. “A Common Law for Labor Relations: A Critique of the New Deal Labor Legislation.” Retrieved From Yale Law Journal 92 (July 1983): 1357–1408.
Freeman, Richard B., and James L. Medoff. What Do Labor Unions Do? 1984. Retrieved from http://papers.nber.org/papers/w11410.
Hutt, William H. The Strike-Threat System: The Economic Consequences of Collective Bargaining. Retrieved from New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973.
O. Reynolds, M. (2008). Library of economics and liberty. Retrieved from http://www.econlib.org/libraryEnc//LaborUnions.html Silverman, J. (2012). How labor unions work. Retrieved from http://www.howstuffworks.com/labor-union.htm
The Public Employment Law Press. ( 2009, Monday, December 21). New york public personnel law. Retrieved from http://publicpersonnellaw.blogspot.com/2009/12/zipper-clause-in-collective-bargaining.html