(a) Organizations which deal with employers. (1) The term ``labor
organization'' includes ``any organization of any kind, any agency, or
employee representation committee, group, association, or plan * * * in
which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole
or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor
disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of
employment, * * *.'' The quoted language is deemed sufficiently broad to
encompass any labor organization irrespective of size or formal
attributes. While it is necessary for employees to participate therein,
such participating employees need not necessarily be the employees of
the employer with whom the organization deals. In determining who are
``employees'' for purposes of this provision, resort must be had to the
broad definition of ``employee'' contained in section 3(f) of the
Act.\5\ It will be noted that the term includes employees whose work has
ceased for certain specified reasons, including any current labor
dispute.
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\5\ Sec. 3(f) reads: `` `Employee' means any individual employed by
an employer, and includes any individual whose work has ceased as a
consequence of, or in connection with, any current labor dispute or
because of any unfair labor practice or because of exclusion or
expulsion from a labor organization in any manner or for any reason
inconsistent with the requirements of this Act.''
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(2) To come within the quoted language in section 3(i) the
organization must exist for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing
with employers concerning grievances, etc. In determining whether a
given organization exists wholly or partially for such purpose,
consideration will be given not only to formal documents, such as its
constitution or bylaws, but the actual functions and practices of the
organization as well. Thus, employee committees which regularly meet
with management to discuss problems of mutual interest and handle
grievances are ``labor organizations'', even though they have no formal
organizational structure.\6\
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\6\ National Labor Relations Board v. Cabot Carbon Co., 360 U.S.
203.
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(3) Since the types of labor organizations described in subparagraph
(2) of this paragraph are those which deal with employers, it is
necessary to consider the definition of ``employer'' contained in
section 3(e) of the Act in determining the scope of the language under
consideration.\7\ The term ``employer'' is broadly defined to include
``any employer or any group or association of employers engaged in an
industry affecting commerce'' which is ``an employer within the meaning
of any law of the United States relating to the
employment of any employees * * *.'' Such laws would include, among
others, the Railway Labor Act, as amended, the Fair Labor Standards Act,
as amended, the Labor Management Relations Act, as amended, and the
Internal Revenue Code. The fact that employers may be excluded from the
application of any of the foregoing acts would not preclude their
qualification as employers for purposes of this Act. For example,
employers of agricultural labor who are excluded from the application of
the Labor Management Relations Act, as amended, would appear to be
employers within the meaning of this Act.
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\7\ Sec. 3(e) reads: `` `Employer' means any employer or any group
or association of employers engaged in an industry affecting commerce,
(1) which is, with respect to employees engaged in an industry affecting
commerce, an employer within the meaning of any law of the United States
relating to the employment of any employees or (2) which may deal with
any labor organization concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages,
rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work, and includes
any person acting directly or indirectly as an employer or as an agent
of an employer in relation to an employee but does not include the
United States or any corporation wholly owned by the Government of the
United States or any State or political subdivision thereof.''
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(4) In defining ``employer,'' section 3(e) expressly excludes the
``United States or any corporation wholly owned by the Government of the
United States or any State or political subdivision thereof.'' The term
``political subdivision'' includes, among others, counties and municipal
governments. A labor organization composed entirely of employees of the
governmental entities excluded by section 3(e) would not be a labor
organization for the purposes of the Act with the exception of a labor
organization composed of employees of the United States Postal Service
which is subject to the Act by virtue of the Postal Reorganization Act
of 1970. (Organizations composed of Federal government employees that
meet the definition of ``labor organization'' in the Civil Service
Reform Act or the Foreign Service Act are subject to the standards of
conduct requirements of those Acts, 5 U.S.C. 7120 and 22 U.S.C. 4117,
respectively. In addition, labor organizations subject to the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 are subject to the standards of
conduct provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act pursuant to 2 U.S.C.
1351(a)(1). The regulations implementing the standards of conduct
requirements are contained in parts 457--459 of this title.) However, in
the case of a national, international or intermediate labor organization
composed both of government locals and non-government or mixed locals,
the parent organization as well as its mixed and non-government locals
would be ``labor organizations'' and subject to the Act. In such case,
the locals which are composed entirely of government employees would not
be subject to the Act, although elections in which they participate for
national officers or delegates would be so subject.\8\
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\8\ See also, Sec. 452.12 of this chapter which discusses the
election provisions of the Act.
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(b) Organizations which may or may not deal with employers.
Regardless of whether it deals with employers concerning terms and
conditions of employment and regardless of whether it is composed of
employees, any conference, general committee, joint or system board, or
joint council engaged in an industry affecting commerce and which is
subordinate to a national or international labor organization is a
``labor organization'' for purposes of the Act. Included are the area
conferences and the joint councils of the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters and similar units of other national and international labor
organizations.
[28 FR 14388, Dec. 27, 1963, as amended at 42 FR 59071, Nov. 15, 1977;
50 FR 31310, Aug. 1, 1985; 62 FR 6093, Feb. 10, 1997]
