Workers in the U.S. are restricted in their ability to engage in picketing and other forms of protest on employers’ property. The law also prohibits secondary picketing and limits picketing which has as its objective organising workers or obtaining recognition from the employer.
For example, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its community affiliate, OUR Walmart, which has been engaging in nationwide demonstrations at Wal-Mart stores protesting retaliation against Wal-Mart workers for speaking out for better pay, fair schedules, and affordable health care, had to disavow any intent to represent Wal-Mart workers and promise not to picket for a period of 60 days to forestall the government from going to court to obtain an injunction to stop demonstrations.
Additionally, union publications have sometimes been limited or prohibited. Under U.S. labour law, unions have no right to maintain their own bulletin boards in employer workplaces, and the employer is not required to allow the union to post notices on its bulletin boards unless it permits workers to use the bulletin boards to post other, non-work related material. Employers may also establish rules prohibiting the distribution of union literature in work areas, even if the employer itself distributes materials in those areas. Although workers generally have the right to distribute news and leaflets in non-work areas, these rights are frequently violated during union organising campaigns.
