On September 6, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law (A6604 / S4982) a bill banning businesses from requiring employees to attend meetings or listen to communications where the “primary purpose” of such meetings or communications is for management to voice its views on certain religious
What A Week…NLRB Unleashes Slew Of Preceding-Shifting Decisions And Paves The Way For Increased Unionization
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) engaged in a pre-Labor Day frenzy that coincided with the conclusion of Member Gywnne Wilcox’s 3-year term. Labor Relations Update has been at the forefront of keeping pace with this abrupt series of precedent reversals, providing summaries and analyses of these impactful
Raytheon No More: NLRB Significantly Cuts Down Employers’ Power to Act Unilaterally
In another much-anticipated reversal of existing precedent, as the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) completes its late-summer flurry before the Labor Day weekend, the Board issued a pair of decisions overruling different aspects of the 2017 decision Raytheon Network Centric Systems, 365 NLRB No. 161 (2017) (see our discussion
NLRB Precedent Again Proves Malleable As Board Remolds Standard On Protected Concerted Activity in Miller Plastic Products
Continuing the rapid flow of overturned precedents, in a 3-1 decision released on August 31, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) redrew the line on when a single person’s individual action could be considered “concerted,” and thus, protected, under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). In Miller Plastic
Not A Clean Break: Cautionary Tale for Employers Looking To Close Plants
In a very active end of summer for labor law, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) ruled in a 2-1 decision, in Quickway Transportation, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 127, that a company’s closure of a terminal where its drivers were unionized violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).
NLRB Clarifies Burden Shifting Framework in Mixed-Motive Cases
On August 28, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued its decision in Intertape Polymer Corp., 372 NLRB No. 133 (2023) clarifying the standard by which the General Counsel satisfies her initial burden of persuasion in cases involving mixed motives for adverse employment actions. Specifically
NLRB Reinvigorates 1949 Joy Silk Doctrine Giving Great Weight To Demands For Recognition
As we previously reported in April 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, asked the Board to revive the Joy Silk doctrine (which was rejected in 1969) and require employers to recognize unions without a secret ballot election.
On August 25, 2023, the Board
Here We Go Again: Board Resurrects “Quickie” Election Rules
With over 58,000 workers reportedly unionizing so far in 2023 and the number of representation petitions on the rise, it comes as no surprise that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) continues to make changes to expedite the unionization process.
Specifically, in a recent rule published