Supreme Court Enters the Union Battles

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Fights over forming unions arehardball -- which is why the decision process is more heavilyregulated than almost any other act of association in Americanlife. One popular technique favored by unions is to promisemanagement something in exchange for a promise to stay neutraland even allow organizers access to the workplace.

Now a federal appeals court has essentially banned theseneutrality agreements, and the U.S. Supreme Court will heararguments to decide whether a side deal between a union andmanagement is a form of illegal bribery or just part of thegame.