Duty of fair representation - Definition and Overview

The duty of fair representation is incumbent upon U.S. labor unions.

Under the Taft-Hartley Act and subsequent amendments, unions were required to be held to standards of fair behavior somewhat analogous to those imposed on employers by the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act). One of the requirements, later extended by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts, was that unions represent all of their members fairly and impartially. One of the consequences of this requirement was that union funds be freely and fairly accounted for; prior to this there had been much financial secrecy at many unions and the existence of "slush funds" that were used at the discretion of the leadership of the union, sometimes for illegal purposes and sometimes to aggrandize themselves. While such practices were hardly totally ended, the requirement of open accounting made such practices explicitly illegal in and of themselves and as a consequence, more difficult for union leaders to engage in.