Union Issues

Hobbs Act Exempts Union Violence

Union violence is a bigger problem in this country than most people realize, say observers. This is result of current federal law, which largely exempts unions from responsibility for violent behavior.

  • Some 9,000 attacks against workers by their colleagues have been documented in recent decades.

  • New York's Daily News strike in 1990 saw 500 instances of striker violence.

  • Recently, during the strike by the Teamsters Union against United Parcel Service, colleagues stabbed a driver with an ice pick.

The Supreme Court has held that the 1946 Hobbs Act, designed to stop violence related to labor disputes, didn't apply to efforts aimed at achieving "legitimate union objectives." Thus the FBI cannot investigate, nor the U.S. Department of Justice prosecute, such crimes -- while local prosecutors lack jurisdiction in labor-related disputes covered by federal law.

Former Attorney General Edwin Meese testified at recent hearings that due to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Enmons, unions enjoy an exemption that "permits union officials -- alone among corporate or associational officers in the United States -- to use violence and threats of violence to life and property to achieve their goals."

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), has held hearings on his bill to curb union violence, the Freedom from Union Violence Act of 1997, but analysts say there isn't much hope of a committee vote on the bill.

Source: Editorial, "Protected Thuggery," Wall Street Journal, September 9, 1997.

Home | Support Us | All Issues | Social Security | Debate Central | Contact Us

Dallas Headquarters: 12770 Coit Rd., Suite 800 - Dallas, TX 75251-1339 - 972/386-6272 - Fax 972/386-0924
Washington Office: 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 900 South Building - Washington, DC 20004 - 202/220-3082 - Fax 202/220-3096
© 2001 NCPA