West Virginia Code 21-1A-1 – Public policy and purposes of article; mediation; investigation and mediation by commissioner of certain labor disputes; arbitration; construction of article
(a) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state and the purposes of this article to encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining by protecting the exercise by employees of full freedom of association, self-organization and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection; to prescribe the legitimate rights of both employees and employers in their relations; to provide orderly and peaceful procedures for preventing the interference by either with the legitimate rights of the other; to protect the rights of individual employees in their relations with labor organizations; to define and prescribe practices on the part of labor and management which are inimical to the welfare, prosperity, health and peace of the people of this state; and to protect the rights of the public in connection with labor disputes. This article shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the state for the protection of the welfare, prosperity, health and peace of the people of this state.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 21-1A-1
- Commissioner: means the labor commissioner or his designated agent. See West Virginia Code 21-3A-2
- dispute: includes any controversy concerning terms, tenure or conditions of employment or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee. See West Virginia Code 21-1A-2
- Employer: includes any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly or indirectly, who employs fifteen or more persons, but shall not include the United States or any wholly owned United States government corporation, or any federal reserve bank, or any person subject to the provisions of the "National Labor Relations Act" as amended, unless the national labor relations board has declined to assert jurisdiction over such person, or any person subject to the "Railway Labor Act" as amended from time to time, or any labor organization, other than when acting as an employer, or the State of West Virginia or any political subdivision or agency thereof, or any corporation or association operating a hospital, if no part of the net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. See West Virginia Code 21-1A-2
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Labor organization: means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee 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 of employment, or conditions of work. See West Virginia Code 21-1A-2
- Representative: includes any individual or labor organization. See West Virginia Code 21-1A-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) The commissioner of labor or his designated representative may investigate and mediate labor disputes between an employer and a labor organization, whether or not a collective bargaining agreement exists between such parties providing both parties to such dispute request in writing such intervention or provided the commissioner offers such service to both parties and both parties to the dispute agree in writing to the investigation or mediation. The commissioner may arbitrate such disputes or arrange for the selection of boards of arbitration on such terms as all of the parties to such disputes may agree upon. Records of the department relating to labor disputes shall be confidential.
(c) This article is patterned after the provisions of the "National Labor Relations Act," as amended, and except insofar as the provisions of this article differ from the provisions of said act, as amended, the decisions of the national labor relations board and of the courts with respect to said act, as amended, shall be authoritative in the interpretation, administration and application of the provisions of this article.