A recent report from the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions underscores the dramatic increase in unionization across higher education—particularly in the private sector—among tenure- and non-tenure track faculty, postdoctoral and academic researchers, graduate student workers, and undergraduate student workers. The report…

In a decision issued on September 16, 2024, the United States Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) ruled that federal contracting rules do not prohibit government agencies from requiring contractors to enter into labor harmony agreements. 

In 2022, Maximus Federal Services, Inc. (“Maximus”), won a contract with the Department of Health and…

On September 12, 2024, the Regional Director for Region 22 (Newark) filed a complaint against Planned Companies, a building maintenance and services provider based in New Jersey alleging that its use of no-poach agreements with its clients violates Section 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”). …

On September 6, 2024, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers (the “Order”), that, among other things, aims to provide “incentives for federally assisted projects with high labor standards – including collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements, and certain community benefits agreements.”  Specifically, the Order directs federal agencies to prioritize projects that provide “high labor standards” for “Federal financial assistance,” which is defined as “funds obtained from or borrowed on the credit of the Federal Government pursuant to grants (whether formula or discretionary), loans, or rebates, or projects undertaken pursuant to any Federal program involving such grants, loans, or rebates.” 

On August 28, 2024, the Sixth Circuit in Huang v. Ohio State Univ., 6th Cir., No. 23-03469 (Aug. 28, 2024) –—in a case with broader implications for the employment status of graduate students—reversed the Southern District of Ohio’s summary judgment ruling that dismissed a graduate student Plaintiff’s Title VII quid…

On August 21, 2024, the NLRB affirmed an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) decision and held in SFR, Inc. d/b/a Parkside Café, 373 N.L.R.B. No. 84, that employees who participated in Black Lives Matter (“BLM”) protests outside of work were not constructively discharged when they resigned because they did not…