Right to Organize with Co-Workers

The Right to Organize

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects the rights of most private-sector employees to organize, to engage in group efforts to improve their wages and working conditions, to determine whether to have a union as their bargaining representative, to engage in collective bargaining, and to refrain from any of these activities. The law protects the rights of workers to act together to address workplace conditions, with or without a union. By law, employers cannot fire, discipline, demote or penalize workers in any way for engaging in these activities.

Other federal and state agencies protect these rights for railroad and airline workers, federal employees, and some state and local public employees:

National Mediation Board

Federal Labor Relations Authority

State Labor Agencies

Can workers take collective action without a union?

Federal law protects the rights of workers to act together to address workplace conditions, with or without a union. These protections extend to certain work-related conversations on social media, such as Facebook and X (Previously Twitter) and give workers the right to act with co-workers to address work-related issues through open conversations with one or more coworkers. Protected conversations can include talking about wages, benefits and working conditions, or joining with co-workers to talk directly to the employer to address concerns. By law, employers cannot fire, discipline, demote or penalize workers in any way for engaging in these activities.

Organizing and Health and Safety

The National Labor Relations Act protects the right of most private-sector workers to act together (called “protected concerted activity”) to advocate for stronger workplace safety and health protections. Retaliation against workers for engaging in this sort of protected activity may be illegal under both the National Labor Relations Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Find out more:
Concerns: Whistleblower protections – Worker.gov