In The Assault on American Labor Law, Catholic Law's Professor Roger C. Hartley meticulously examines six decades of Supreme Court decisions on the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), uncovering a troubling trend. Through his analysis of nearly 100 cases, Hartley reveals how the Court has often acted as a legislative body, reshaping the NLRA’s collectivist foundations to favor businesses and individuals over workers. This judicial shift has left American workers grappling with globalization, deindustrialization, and technological change without the collective power of union representation. While many scholars propose piecemeal reforms, Hartley’s comprehensive study sheds light on the roots of the current labor law crisis, offering a critical perspective for restoring workers’ rights to organize.
Professor Hartley, Catholic Law's most senior faculty member, has been a cornerstone of the law school since joining in 1974 and is now in his 52nd year of teaching. A prolific research scholar, he is currently working on his sixth book, with four published in the past eight years, alongside numerous Law Journal articles. Renowned for his exceptional teaching, Professor Hartley has been voted teacher of the year multiple times, most recently in 2022, recognized for providing students with unparalleled support.
Recent praise for Professor Hartley's new book, The Assault on American Labor Law:
“Hartley’s scholarship is impeccable, and a key innovation of the book is his novel cross-doctrinal organization of these 100 or so Supreme Court cases to vividly illuminate how the evolving law detrimentally affected workers and the labor movement.”—Karl Klare, Northeastern University School of Law
“We have certainly known that the judiciary has, over the last 60 years and more, sharply constrained and enfeebled the legal regime animating the rights of unions and ordinary workers, but Professor Hartley, a highly respected and prolific labor law scholar, does us all a great service by demonstrating this in such a systematic fashion. Indeed, it is one of the major themes of the book that over six decades and more labor law has undergone a remarkable, pro-employer transformation.”—Nelson Lichtenstein, author of A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism