Labor Laws and Unions Paper

Labor Laws and Unions

Tina Taylor

HRM/531

February 28, 2012

James Wood

Labor Laws and Unions

Southwest Airlines

According to the text reading, the main goal of unions is to improve economic and other conditions of employment (Cascio, 2010). This paper will provide a brief detail on Southwest Airlines and the organization; identify legal issues and obstacles that the organization could encounter. Determining which federal, state, and local laws that could be broken as a direct result of these legal issues and why. Also, this paper will provide recommendations that will help Southwest Airlines minimize possible litigation.

Brief Background

Southwest Airlines was assimilated in Texas and initiated business June 18, 1971 with only three Boeing 737 aircrafts delivering on three cities in Texas. These three cities are Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas (Southwest, 2012). Today, Southwest Airlines operates in about 72 cities with more than 550 Boeing 737 (Southwest, 2012). Southwest Airlines is a company in the airline industry that does not charge its customers for the first two bags of luggage. Most of the company’s competition still continues to charge its customers for first and second bags. By doing this, Southwest Airlines will remain competitive in this industry.

Legal Issues, Laws, and Recommendation

Southwest Airlines could face some legal issues and obstacles in the way the organization accepts union activity. One major issue is the way management treats employees once notified of possible union activity. According to the test reading, it is unlawful for management to discriminate in employment because of union activities (Cascio, 2010). Southwest Airlines will have an ongoing responsibility of keeping their employees happy to avoid the formation of unions in the future. The legal issue associated with discrimination in employment as a result of union activities is the 1995 Supreme Court ruling NLRB v. Town and Country Electric Inc....