Winning is Secondary: Secondary Boycotts in the United States and Denmark [Note]

Abstract

The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 removed some of labor’s most effective tools for collective bargaining without providing any alternatives. Among other tools, the Act made secondary boycotts illegal and allowed employers to recover damages caused by secondary boycotts. This Note will show how effective these secondary boycotts can be internationally and discuss how the lack of clarity in the American law prevents workers from engaging in constitutionally protected speech. Many argue that the current law is in place to prevent industrial strife from affecting third-party employers. The current law, however, places too powerful of a thumb on the scale in favor of management and effectively chills labor organizations’ speech out of fear of a lawsuit over one misstep. This Note explores how Denmark regulates secondary boycotts in an effort to provide an alternative way of thinking about this powerful tool of labor and considers potential next steps to improve existing American law.