Main Content
Bargaining for health and safety: Protections for unionized workers
Since health and safety is a mandatory subject of bargaining under §8(a)(5) of the NLRA, 29 U.S.C.A. § 158 (a)(5), unions have the opportunity negotiate for protections that are not limited to the provisions of federal and state laws. You have seen the right of unions to obtain information. This right to information is part of the right to bargain, and the protections that are offered under collective bargaining agreements can be quite extensive. To give you a concrete sense of what strong provisions for health and safety in a union contract might look like, the following is an excerpt from a national agreement between the United Mineworkers of America and the Bituminous Coal Operations’ Association:
This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.