what is the taft hartley act 
the taft hartley act is a 1947 u s federal law that extended and modified the 1935 wagner act it prohibits certain union practices and requires disclosure of certain financial and political activities by unions 1 the bill was initially vetoed by president truman but congress overrode the veto understanding the taft hartley actthe labor management relations act lmra commonly known as the taft hartley act amended the 1935 national labor relations act nlra or wagner act congress passed the taft hartley act in 1947 overriding president harry truman s veto union critics at the time called it the slave labor bill but the republican controlled congress encouraged by the business lobby saw it as necessary to counter union abuses to end a string of large scale strikes that broke out after the end of world war ii and to suppress communist influence in the labor movement the taft hartley act like the wagner act before it does not cover domestic help or farmworkers the taft hartley act key amendments and changestaft hartley outlined six unfair practices by labor unions and provided remedies in the form of amendments for protecting employees from harm resulting from these practices previously the wagner act had only addressed unfair labor practices perpetrated by employers in 1947 president harry truman amended parts of the nlra when he passed the taft hartley act this act created current right to work laws which allow states to prohibit compulsory membership in a union as a condition for employment in the public and private sectors of the country 1in february 2021 congress re introduced the national right to work act giving employees nationwide a choice to opt out of joining or paying dues to unions 2 the act was also introduced in 2019 and 2017 but stalled in march 2021 the united states house of representatives passed the protecting the right to organize act pro act the pro union legislation overrides right to work laws and would make it easier to form unions 3 as of november 2022 the pro act of 2021 has not been voted upon in congress the following states have right to work laws alabama arizona arkansas kansas florida georgia idaho indiana iowa kentucky louisiana michigan mississippi nebraska nevada north carolina north dakota oklahoma south carolina south dakota tennessee texas utah virginia west virginia wisconsin and wyoming 4 the most recent state to enact legislation was wisconsin in 2015 5the taft hartley act also made changes to union election rules 1 these changes excluded supervisors from bargaining groups and gave special treatment to certain professional employees the taft hartley act also created four new types of elections one gave employers the right to vote on union demands the other three gave employees the right to hold elections on the status of incumbent unions to determine whether a union has the power to enter into agreements for employees and to withdraw union representation after it s granted in 1951 congress repealed the provisions governing union shop elections 1