Slowdown Law and Legal Definition
A slowdown is a partial or intermittent strike that may result in discipline or discharge of the workers involved. Recently in a slowdown of dockworkers on the West Coast, President Bush intervened, and got an order ending the lockout for an 80-day cooling-off period and requiring the workers to work at normal pace.
Long-standing National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) precedent recognizes the rights of both labor and management to use a variety of economic weapons in an effort to influence the collective bargaining process. From the union’s standpoint, such weapons include the strike or threat of strike, both of which are specifically allowed in section 13 of the NLRA as a means of exerting pressure. Also available is a consumer boycott or the use of a slowdown or other tactics such as half-day walkouts or a refusal to perform certain job duties.
