The National Labor Relations Act, NLRA, or Wagner Act (after its sponsor, New York Senator Robert F. Wagner) (Pub.L. 74-198, 49 Stat. 449, codified as amended at 29 U.S.C. § 151–169), is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of employees in the private sector to engage in concerted activity. This may include creating labor unions (also known as trade unions), discussing organizing and workplace issues among coworkers, engaging in collective bargaining, and taking part in strikes and other forms of protected concerted activity in support of their demands. The Act does not apply to workers who are covered by the Railway Labor Act, agricultural employees, domestic employees, supervisors, federal, state or local government workers, independent contractors and some close relatives of individual employers.
Under section 9(a) of the NLRA, federal courts have held that wildcat strikes are illegal, and that workers must formally request that the National Labor Relations Board end their association with their labor union if they feel that the union is not sufficiently supportive of them before they can legally go on strike.
Read more about National Labor Relations Act: Principles, Enforcement, Reactions, Amendments
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