The Silicon Bullet: Will the Internet Kill the NLRA?

43 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2007 Last revised: 24 May 2014

See all articles by Jeffrey M. Hirsch

Jeffrey M. Hirsch

University of North Carolina School of Law

Abstract

The NLRA's 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 NLRB's anachronistic rules - challenges so great that, as explained by public choice theory, the NLRB's failure to adapt sufficiently may result in the NLRA's losing what little relevance it currently possesses. Yet, I remain sanguine about the NLRA's survival. The NLRB has recently signaled that it will comprehensively address the NLRA's application to electronic communications. Thus, I am hopeful that the Internet will act as a catalyst for the NLRB to make the changes needed to ensure the NLRA's effectiveness and relevance in the modern economy.

Keywords: Labor, Union, Internet, NLRA, NLRB, Public Choice

JEL Classification: K31, J51, J53, J58

Suggested Citation

Hirsch, Jeffrey M., The Silicon Bullet: Will the Internet Kill the NLRA?. George Washington Law Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, 2008, University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 4, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=957606

Jeffrey M. Hirsch (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States
919-962-7675 (Phone)

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