The silicon bullet: Will the Internet kill the NLRA?

The National Labor Relations Act's ("Act") increasing obsolescence in the modern workplace is well documented. Nowhere is this problem more apparent than where unions and employees use the Internet and other electronic communications to further employees' collective interests. Electronic communications pose significant challenges to several of the National Labor Relations Board's ("Board") anachronistic rules-challenges so great that, as explained by public choice theory, the Board's failure to adapt sufficiently may result in the Act losing what little relevance it currently possesses. I was hopeful that the Board's recent signal that it would comprehensively address the Act's application to electronic communications was an indication that that it recognized the need to adapt to this new technology. Instead, the Board expressly refused to make the changes needed to ensure the Act's effectiveness and relevance in the modern economy. A future Board may revisit the issue, but until it does, the Act's survival is in jeopardy.

Duke Scholars

Author Jeffrey M Hirsch School of Law