The National Labor Relations Act of 1935
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also named the "Wagner Act" of the United States Labor Law allows workers to organize themselves into trade unions, campaign for collective bargaining and take collective action to advocate for their rights if necessary. It can be found in Section 29 of the U.S. Constitution and has been active since 6th July 1935 (Amato, 2014). Before its enactment, trade unions were considered illegal in the United States of America. Besides allowing the workers to join labor unions, it also empowers them to organize strikes and boycotts to command the attention and address by the employer, elect a bargaining representative, campaign for better working conditions, wages and protection from occupational hazards. The act also facilitates the establishment of the National Labor Relations Board which regulate trade unions, organize their elections, review their active as and ensure proper implementation of the act (Amato, 2014). It also gives legal advice to the labor unions. All these are to benefit the American workforce.
Mediation vs. Arbitration
Mediation is the process of dispute resolution outside a court of law, where the parties have the right to decide whether or not to agree to the settlement proposed by the mutually agreed and neutral mediator (Stipanowich, " Lamare, 2014). In this case, the mediator only recommends and uses the power of persuasion to nail the agreement. On the other hand, arbitration is a dispute resolution process, where the parties give the power to decide to the arbitrator (Blattmachr, 2017). Arbitration mainly takes place in a courthouse and can be time-consuming, costly and truth-oriented. Unlike arbitration, mediation seeks to come up with an agreement which satisfied both parties to restore peace regardless of the evidence or truth. The most significant difference between these two processes is the power vested in the mediator or arbitrator and the relevance of the agreed decision (Blattmachr, 2017). However, in both methods, a neutral third party is decided on and trusted by both parties.
References
Amato, T. A. (2014). Labor Rights Conditionality: United States Trade Legislation and the International Trade Order. NYUL Rev., 65, 79.
Blattmachr, J. G. (2017). Reducing estate and trust litigation through disclosure, in terrorem clauses, mediation, and arbitration. Cardozo J. Conflict Resol., 9, 237.
Stipanowich, T. J., " Lamare, J. R. (2014). Living with ADR: Evolving Perceptions and Use of Mediation, Arbitration, and Conflict Management in Fortune 1000 Corporations. Harv. Negot. L. Rev., 19, 1.
