§ 28-7-2 - Policy of chapter.
SECTION 28-7-2
§ 28-7-2 Policy of chapter. – (a) The economic necessity for employees to possess full freedom ofassociation, actual liberty of contract, and bargaining power equal to that oftheir employers, who are frequently organized in corporate or other forms ofassociation, has long been sanctioned by public opinion, and recognized andaffirmed by legislatures and the highest courts. As the modern industrialsystem has progressed, there has developed between and among employees andemployers an ever greater economic interdependence and community of interestwhich have become matters of vital public concern. Employers and employees haverecognized that the peaceable practice and wholesome development of thatrelationship and interest are materially aided by the general adoption andadvancement of the procedure and practice of bargaining collectively as betweenequals. It is in the public interest that equality of bargaining power beestablished and maintained. It is likewise recognized that the denial by someemployers of the right of employees freely to organize and the resultantrefusal to accept the procedure of collective bargaining substantially andadversely affect the interest of employees, other employers, and the public ingeneral. This denial creates variations and instability in competitive wagerates and working conditions within and between industries and betweenemployees and employers engaged in those industries, and by depressing thepurchasing 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 thehealth, peace and morale of the people; and
(4) Increase public and private expenditures for relief ofthe needy and the unemployed.
(b) When some employers deny the right of employees to fullfreedom of association and organization, and refuse to recognize the practiceand procedure of collective bargaining, their actions lead to strikes,lockouts, and other forms of industrial strife and unrest which are inimical tothe public safety and welfare, and frequently endanger the public health.
(c) Experience has proved that protection by law of the rightof employees to organize and bargain collectively removes certain recognizedsources of industrial strife and unrest, encourages practices fundamental tothe friendly adjustment of industrial disputes arising out of differences as towages, hours, or other working conditions, and tends to restore equality ofbargaining power between and among employers and employees, thereby advancingthe interests of employers as well as employees.
(d) In the interpretation and application of this chapter andotherwise, it is declared to be the public policy of the state to encourage thepractice and procedure of collective bargaining, and to protect employees inthe exercise of full freedom of association, self organization, and designationof representatives of their own choosing for the purposes of collectivebargaining, 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 liberallyconstrued for the accomplishment of this purpose.
(f) This chapter shall be deemed an exercise of the policepower of the state for the protection of the public welfare, prosperity,health, and peace of the people of the state.