The National Labor Relations Book - A Labor Law Introduction - Version 2026.02.09

Oct 22, 2026

A labor-law introduction to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and its administration by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The text explains the NLRA’s legal authority by separating legal code from legal application, and describes how constitutional limits, the governing statute, and agency regulations shape enforcement. It also outlines the book’s research method using the NLRB Research database to identify frequently cited cases, generate case summaries, and note practical limitations, before presenting sampled case briefs and the statutory appendix.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Legal Framework

Method of the Book

Sample Case Briefs

Appendix

1 Legal Framework

1.1 Understanding the NLRA’s Legal Authority

1.2 Legal Code

1.3 Legal Application

1.4 Summarizing the Legal Framework

2 Method of the Book

2.1 Overview

2.2 NLRB Research Database

2.3 Selecting Cases

2.4 Generating Summaries

2.5 Limitations

2.6 Summarizing the Method

3 Sample Case Briefs

3.0.1 Wright Line (Discrimination, Retaliation)

3.0.2 Meyers II (Concertedness)

3.0.3 Excelsior Underwear Inc. (Voter List)

3.0.4 Spielberg Manufacturing Co. (Arbitration)

The National Labor Relations Book A Labor Law Introduction Matt Bruenig Version 2026.02.09 Contents Introduction 1 1 Legal Framework 2 1.1 Understanding the NLRA’s Legal Authority .................. 2 1.2 Legal Code .................................... 2 1.2. 1 Constitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2.2 Statute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2.3 Regulations ................................ 3 1.3 Legal Application ................................. 3 1.3. 1 Court Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.2 Agency Adjudications .......................... 3 1.3.3 Agency Guidance ............................. 4 1.4 Summarizing the Legal Framework ....................... 5 2 Method of the Book 7 2. 1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.2 NLRB Research Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.3 Selecting Cases .................................. 8 2.4 Generating Summaries .............................. 8 2.5 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.6 Summarizing the Method ............................ 11 3 Sample Case Briefs 12 3.0.1 Wright Line (Discrimination, Retaliation) ............... 12 3.0.2 Meyers II (Concertedness) ........................ 14 3.0.3 Excelsior Underwear Inc. (Voter List) ................. 18 3.0.4 Spielberg Manufacturing Co. (Arbitration) ............... 21 Introduction When I was in college, a friend preparing for a trip to East Africa wanted to learn Swahili. Instead of using a textbook, he downloaded the entire Swahili-language Wikipedia and wrote a program to find every unique word, count their occurrences, and sort them by frequency. This approach allowed him to focus his studies on the most common words first. This strategy, while limited for in-depth language study, suited his practical goal: to quickly acquire the most useful Swahili for everyday conversation and immersion. In this book, I use a similar method to provide an introduction to private sector labor lawas governed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and administered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) . Using data from the NLRB Research database, I determined which NLRB and Supreme Court cases have been cited the most since the NLRA’s enactment in 1935 . By combining citation frequency with my own judgment as an experienced labor lawyer, I have created this text, which I hope can help individuals—especially law students, union staff, and rank-and-file workers—gain an initial footing in this area of law. This book is also an experiment in applying artificial intelligence, specifically large language models (LLMs), to the creation of legal and technical reference materials. I have used LLMs throughout this project to write the code that analyzes the database, generate summaries of case law, and draft the text of the book. While I supervise and review all work, I have delegated as much work as possible to the most advanced LLMs available. Chapter One explains the basic legal framework of the NLRA, as well as the significance of the decisions and other documents produced within the NLRB system. While the chapter centers on the NLRA, it also serves to illustrate how administrative law functions more generally. Chapter Two explains the methods I used to produce the book, including how I used the LLMs to produce the case summaries. Chapter Three contains the case summaries. The summaries are organized into six topical sections: unfair labor practices, protected activities, remedies, union representation, exemptions, and process. The Appendix contains the statutory text of the NLRA, a history of changes to that text, a description of the NLRA regulations, and a list of the most-cited cases. Chapter 1 Legal Framework 1.1

FAQs

What is the NLRA’s legal authority framework explained in the book?

The NLRA operates through two interrelated forms of authority: legal code and legal application. Legal code provides the authoritative text, while courts and agencies interpret and apply it to determine enforcement and practical meaning.

How does the book select and summarize NLRB and Supreme Court cases?

It uses data from the NLRB Research database to identify which NLRB and Supreme Court cases have been cited most since the NLRA’s enactment. Citation frequency is combined with the author’s judgment to produce the case summaries.

What role do large language models (LLMs) play in creating the book?

The project applies LLMs to analyze the database, generate summaries of case law, and draft the book text. The author supervises and reviews all work while delegating as much as possible to advanced LLMs.

What does the sample cases section cover?

It presents sampled case briefs organized into topical sections such as unfair labor practices, protected activities, remedies, union representation, exemptions, and process. Example cases include Wright Line, Meyers II, Excelsior Underwear Inc., and Spielberg Manufacturing Co.

Oct 22, 2026

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