Impact of Landrum-Griffin on the Small Employer

The Landrum-Griffin Act emerged from an emotional climate of concern over the union practices revealed by the McClellan Committee. Although aimed primarily at the Teamsters Union, the act visits hardships upon small businessmen and small local unions, particularly through amendments to the Taft-Hartley Act contained in Title Seven. There is more to the Landrum-Griffin Act than the publicized "Bill of Rights" for union members. It can be argued that the act is a series of compromises lacking agreement on basic principles. This view is supported by the specific exemptions provided for the garment and the construction industries. These exemptions granted to certain small businesses and not available to other small industries may well undermine the constitutionality of the Landrum-Griffin Act. In effect, the act, in its attempt to curtail the disreputable practices of a few union leaders, discourages the efforts at statesmanship of the union leaders who are more concerned with long-range benefits for the workers than with short-term victories. Large, nationally organized companies are not particularly affected by the new act, but smaller employers who are already unionized are placed at a disadvantage by the improved position of their nonunionized competitors who wish to resist unionization. The fact that time is required for the Landrum-Griffin Act to be interpreted and understood will be to the further detriment of the small employer.