Article:
Cynthia L. Estlund, Economic Rationality and Union Avoidance: Misunderstanding and the National Labor Relations Act, 71 TEXAS L. REV. 921 (1993).
 

Abstract:
In the context of the National Labor Relations Act, the author focuses on capital allocation decisions -- decisions about locating, relocating, closing, or contracting out operations -- that eliminate union jobs. Some capital investment decisions that eliminate union jobs are subject to scrutiny under the Act's anti-discrimination requirement and may be unlawful if they are found to have been motivated by "anti-union animus." But anti-union animus is defined in contrast to legitimate "economic" motive. The author’s thesis is that the requirement of motive, and particularly the crucial dichotomy between anti-union motives and economically rational motives, misconceives the nature of anti-union animus and thereby defines the range of prohibited employer conduct too narrowly.