§402 Definitions

Summary

Defines important words used in the chapter. It gives short meanings for terms people will see later so everyone knows what is meant. "Commerce" means trade, transport, transmission, or communication between states or between a state and places outside it. "State" names the places covered: any U.S. State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Wake Island, the Canal Zone, and the Outer Continental Shelf lands as defined by law. "Industry affecting commerce" means any business or activity in commerce or any activity where a labor dispute could block commerce, and it also includes activities covered by the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 or the Railway Labor Act. "Person" covers people and many kinds of organizations and business forms, including trustees and receivers and trustees in cases under Title 11. "Employer" means an employer or group of employers in an industry affecting commerce who are employers under U.S. employment laws or who can deal with a labor organization about pay, hours, or working conditions; it also covers agents acting for an employer but excludes the United States and corporations wholly owned by the U.S. or a State or local government. "Employee" means anyone employed by an employer and also includes people whose work stopped because of a current labor dispute, an unfair labor practice, or improper exclusion or expulsion from a labor organization. "Labor dispute" means any disagreement about employment terms, job security, working conditions, or who will represent workers. "Trusteeship" means when a labor organization takes control of a subordinate body and suspends its independent powers. "Labor organization" means an employee organization engaged in commerce that represents or seeks to represent employees, and it also covers certain subordinate joint bodies. A labor organization is treated as engaged in commerce if it meets any of five tests, such as being a certified representative under the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act, being a national or international union that represents workers in commerce, chartering or being chartered for locals that represent such employees, or being certain subordinate conference or committee bodies. "Secret ballot" means a vote cast so the voter cannot be identified and not by proxy. A "trust in which a labor organization is interested" is a fund created by or controlled in part by a labor organization whose main purpose is to provide benefits to its members or their beneficiaries. A "labor relations consultant" is someone paid to advise or represent an employer or a labor organization about organizing, concerted activities, or collective bargaining. "Officer" means people who perform top union roles like president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or serve on the executive board. "Member" or "member in good standing" means someone who met membership rules and has not voluntarily left or been properly suspended or expelled. "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor. "Officer, agent, shop steward, or other representative" includes elected leaders and key administrators with substantial authority but does not include salaried nonsupervisory professional staff, stenographic, or service workers. "District court of the United States" means a U.S. district court or any U.S. court in a place under U.S. jurisdiction.