Featherbedding

Featherbedding, retention of labor by management when the need for it has been reduced or eliminated. The term also refers to job positions created by this practice. Such positions, which require little or no work but provide a salary, are also called sinecures. Featherbedding results from labor unions increasing pressure on industry when the employment of union members is threatened by innovations such as labor-saving devices.

The Federal Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, commonly known as the Taft-Hartley Act, ruled that it was illegal for labor unions “… to cause or attempt to cause an employer to pay or deliver any money … for services which are not performed or not to be performed.' However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 1953 that unions could legally request certain types of employment be retained for their members, regardless of whether the employers perceived the services as necessary. This ruling has since been applied to many featherbedding practices.