§ 28-7-2. Policy of chapter.
(a) The economic necessity for employees to possess full freedom of association, actual
liberty of contract, and bargaining power equal to that of their employers, who are
frequently organized in corporate or other forms of association, has long been sanctioned
by public opinion, and recognized and affirmed by legislatures and the highest courts.
As the modern industrial system has progressed, there has developed between and among
employees and employers an ever greater economic interdependence and community of
interest which have become matters of vital public concern. Employers and employees
have recognized that the peaceable practice and wholesome development of that relationship
and interest are materially aided by the general adoption and advancement of the procedure
and practice of bargaining collectively as between equals. It is in the public interest
that equality of bargaining power be established and maintained. It is likewise recognized
that the denial by some employers of the right of employees freely to organize and
the resultant refusal to accept the procedure of collective bargaining substantially
and adversely affect the interest of employees, other employers, and the public in
general. This denial creates variations and instability in competitive wage rates
and working conditions within and between industries and between employees and employers
engaged in those industries, and by depressing the purchasing power of wage earners
and the profits of business, tends to:
(1) Produce and aggravate recurrent business depressions;
(2) Increase the disparity between production and consumption;
(3) Create unemployment with its attendant dangers to the health, peace and morale of
the people; and
(4) Increase public and private expenditures for relief of the needy and the unemployed.
(b) When some employers deny the right of employees to full freedom of association and
organization, and refuse to recognize the practice and procedure of collective bargaining,
their actions lead to strikes, lockouts, and other forms of industrial strife and
unrest which are inimical to the public safety and welfare, and frequently endanger
the public health.
(c) Experience has proved that protection by law of the right of employees to organize
and bargain collectively removes certain recognized sources of industrial strife and
unrest, encourages practices fundamental to the friendly adjustment of industrial
disputes arising out of differences as to wages, hours, or other working conditions,
and tends to restore equality of bargaining power between and among employers and
employees, thereby advancing the interests of employers as well as employees.
(d) In the interpretation and application of this chapter and otherwise, it is declared
to be the public policy of the state to encourage the practice and procedure of collective
bargaining, and to protect employees, when not already protected by the National Labor
Relations Board, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151-169, in the exercise of full freedom of association, self organization, and designation
of representatives of their own choosing for the purposes of collective bargaining,
or other mutual aid and protection, free from the interference, restraint, or coercion
of their employers.
(e) All the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment
of this purpose.
(f) This chapter shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the state for the
protection of the public welfare, prosperity, health, and peace of the people of the
state.