The Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, also known as the Taft-Hartley Act, includes a national emergency provision allowing a federal court to end a strike or lockout when that action would endanger the national welfare.

Board of Inquiry

The Act provides that whenever, in the opinion of the President of the United States, a threatened or actual strike or lockout affecting an entire industry or a substantial part of that industry will imperil the national health or safety, he may appoint a board of inquiry to investigate the dispute.

The board, which comprises a chairman and as many other members as the President directs, provides a written report to the President upon the conclusion of its investigation. The report is strictly factual and does not contain any recommendations. It is designed to present both sides of the labor dispute to the President. To create the report, the board has broad discovery powers, including the right to subpoena documents and witnesses.

Federal Court Action

If, upon receiving the board's report, the President determines that the actual or threatened strike has imperiled the national health or safety, he may direct the United States Attorney General to petition any federal district court with jurisdiction over the parties to enjoin the lockout or the strike. The court will grant the requested injunction if it agrees that:

1. The threatened or actual strike or lockout affects an entire industry or a substantial part of an industry engaged in interstate commerce, and
2. The action or threatened action will imperil the national health or safety.

Parties injured by any such order may petition the proper United States Court of Appeals for Review.

Follow-up Action

If an emergency injunctive order issues, the President must reconvene the board of inquiry. After a 60-day cooling off period, the board must again report to the President regarding the position of each party and the last settlement offer by the employer. The National Labor Relations Board, over the course of the next 15 days, must take a secret ballot of the affected employees asking whether they are willing to accept the final offer of settlement of the employer. The results of the election must be certified to the Attorney General within five days of the election.

Once the results are certified or once a settlement is reached, the Attorney General asks the court to discharge the injunction, and the parties are again free to engage in a strike or a lockout if the employees did not agree to the employers' final offer of settlement. The President then submits to Congress a full report of the proceedings, including the findings of the board of inquiry, the ballot of the National Labor Relations Board, and the President's recommendations for appropriate action that may be taken.

Recent Action under the Taft-Hartley Emergency Procedure

For the first time since Nixon was in office, President Bush invoked the Taft-Hartley emergency powers in 2002. He used the powers to enjoin an 11-day shutdown of 29 West Coast ports due to employers' lockouts of 10,500 longshoremen. The President declared, in invoking the power, that the operation of the ports was "vital to [the nation's] economy and to [its] military."

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