Letter Responding to Unfair Labor Practice

A letter responding to unfair labor practice is a letter that is either written by an employer, a government representative, or a union leader. It is written in response to a complaint lodged, either by an employee or a union. The purpose of this response letter is to address the complaint and rectify the situation.

One of the biggest assets of an organization is its employees. If they are unhappy or believe that their organization is unjust to them, and is not fulfilling their rights, their productivity will suffer, which would lead to losses for the firm. Therefore, unfair labor practices are avoided to the maximum extent possible.

Additionally, the law and governments support the workers by enacting laws, regulations, and acts. The provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) dictate the organizations about the protection of the labor rights and instruct about adopting fair work practices. If the organizations do not follow the regulations, legal actions can be taken against them, and they would have to face severe consequences, both in terms of money and reputation.

Often, if an issue surfaces, the organization tries to resolve it within the organization, so that the workers would not approach the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), or other legal bodies. It indicates, that when a complaint is lodged by the workers, a properly prepared response letter, with justification and rectification, should be sent to the workers.

The information in this letter may vary as per the circumstances and severity of the issue. However, generally, the following details are included in such letters:

  • Date.
  • Details of the addressee.
  • Details of the addresser.
  • Reference to the issue or complain about the unfair labor practice.
  • Polite negation and justification with an apology, or acceptance with an apology and rectification, whichever is applicable.
  • Attached supporting documents, if any.
  • Request for the avoidance of any legal action.  
  • Seek cooperation and understanding.

Usually, after this letter, the issue gets resolved, and a settlement between the management and workers occurs. In the opposite scenario, the workers would go to court, and get a resolution legally.

Sample letter

Dear Mr. Mathew,

I am writing this letter as a response to your complaint of unfair labor practice at our organization ABC Limited which was lodged on 3rd November 20XX.

I, as CEO of ABC Limited, am highly embarrassed by the issue my union members and all the employees had to face. As you know, Mr. Wilson is new, and although he is highly experienced and professional, he has come from a country, where labor unions and labor laws do not hold great importance. Although this is not a justification of his behavior but is certainly the reason why he was unaware of the ways to handle and respond to the labor union, and resultantly, the complaint of not informing about the XYZ labor-intensive project to the union members became such a huge issue.

Since our union, in consensus with all the laborers, complained, the management has held numerous meetings. We highly apologize to all our hardworking workers, and we ensure that all the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will strictly be followed from now on. A written apology from Mr. Wilson is also attached with this letter. However, we expect all the employees to respect him, as we do not want to lose our valuable employees as well.

We request the union to end this matter and to avoid approaching National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Thank you.

Regards,

Martha Steven.

Letter Responding to Unfair Labor Practice

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