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"Know your rights"
A guide to
federal labor law...part 2
LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW
page 221 Sec. A Introduction
A second reason why collective action is
necessary is that workers who are tied to a firm are unlikely to reveal their true
preferences to an employer, for fear the employer may fire them. In a world in which
workers could find employment at the same wages immediately, the market would offer
adequate protection for the individual, but that is not the world we live in.
The danger of job loss makes expression of voice by an individual risky. Collective
voice, by contrast, is protected both by the support of all workers and by the country's
labor law: "It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer by discrimination in
regard to hire or tenure or employment or any term or condition of employment to encourage
or discourage membership in any labor organization" (National Labor Relations Act,
Section 7a [sic; 8(3)~Eds.] of the 1935 law).
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