On March 25, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in St. John’s College, Case 28-RM-337949, and declined to overturn the Board’s August 2023 decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC, 372 NLRB No. 130 (2023). Cemex upended 50 years of precedent by establishing a
Course Change: NLRB Asks Federal Court to Strike Removal Protections
By Joshua Fox, Yonatan Grossman-Boder & Rose Farkish on
On March 23, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) asked a federal court to declare unconstitutional and sever the provisions in the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”) that restrict the President’s ability to remove NLRB Board Members and administrative law judges (“ALJs”). The filing comes in the case…
NIH Withdraws Recognition from Union Representing Grad Students and Postdocs
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has withdrawn recognition from the union representing its postdoctoral and graduate student fellows. In the email announcing the decision, the NIH stated it withdrew recognition because the fellows are not “employees.” Unionization at federal agencies like the NIH is regulated by the Federal Labor…
On the Rocks: Sixth Circuit Rejects Cemex NLRB Representation Framework at Distillery
On March 6, 2026, the Sixth Circuit issued its decision in Brown-Forman Corporation v. NLRB, marking the first appellate rejection of the National Labor Relations Boards’ (“NLRB” or “Board”) Cemex framework. As previously reported, in August 2023, the Board issued Cemex, which upended 50 years of precedent…
NLRB’s 2020 Joint Employer Standard is Officially Back
In an anticipated move, the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) formally reinstated its 2020 rule that controls when an employer is deemed a joint employer under the labor law. This rulemaking does not change the standard that the NLRB currently applies to determine joint employer status because of prior…
You Shall Not Impasse: Eleventh Circuit Affirms the NLRB’s High Bar for When Further Bargaining is Futile
By Joshua Fox, Daniel H. Dorson & Rachel Edelson on
On February 19, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a 2024 National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB” or “the Board”) decision finding the now-defunct Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Association prematurely declared an impasse in bargaining and unlawfully implemented its last, best, and final offer. A three-judge panel issued an…
No Harm, No Foul? – NLRB and DOL Simultaneously Issue Directives to Relax Scrutiny in Certain Agency Investigations
On February 27, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or the “Board”) General Counsel, Crystal Carey, issued General Counsel Memorandum 26-03 (“GC 26-03”), which provides directives to NLRB Regional Offices concerning unfair labor practice (“ULP”) case processing. Among other things, GC 26-03 encourages Regional Offices to be less aggressive…