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Michael Lebowich

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Michael J. Lebowich is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Labor-Management Relations Group. He represents and counsels employers on a wide range of labor and employment matters, with a particular interest in the field of traditional labor law.

Michael acts as the primary spokesperson in collective bargaining negotiations, regularly handles grievance arbitrations, assists clients in the labor implications of corporate transactions, and counsels clients on union organizing issues, strike preparation and day-to-day contract administration issues. He also has significant experience in representation and unfair labor practice matters before the National Labor Relations Board.

His broad employment law experience includes handling of race, national origin, gender and other discrimination matters in state and federal court. A significant amount of his practice is devoted to counseling clients regarding the application and practical impact of the full range of employment laws that affect our clients, including all local, state and federal employment discrimination statutes, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and state labor laws.

Michael has substantial experience in a wide variety of industries, including entertainment, broadcasting, newspaper publishing and delivery, utilities and lodging. He represents such clients as The New York Times, BuzzFeed, ABC, the New York City Ballet, PPL, Pacific Gas & Electric, Host Hotels and Resorts, and The Broadway League (and many of its theater owner and producing members).  Michael also has significant public sector experience representing, among others, the City of New York and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Michael is a frequent guest lecturer at Columbia Business School, the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, the New York University Tisch School for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, and is an advisory board member of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations.

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Updated 8/8/2026

As previously reported here and here, President Trump nominated James Macy to fill the third vacant Republican seat on the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”). 

Today, August 7, 2026, the Senate voted 51-47 to confirm Macy as a new Republican member of the Board.

The Supreme Court’s June 29, 2026 decision in Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25-332 (2026), overruling Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935), has major implications for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”). In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion held that for-cause removal protections…

In a surprise move, on June 9, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Faster Labor Contracts Act (“FLCA”) by a vote of 230-193, sending the bill to the Senate.  The legislation—passed without Republican leadership support and via a discharge petition—seeks a dramatic restructuring of the National Labor Relations…

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…

As an update to our previous blog, on January 28, 2026, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) issued further guidance clarifying GC 26-01, explaining that the new docketing protocol is intended only as a practical adjustment to improve efficiency and is not meant to alter the…

On December 23, 2025, in one of his final acts in the role, then National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) Acting General Counsel (“Acting GC”) William B. Cowen quietly released General Counsel Memorandum GC 26-01, modifying the procedure for processing unfair labor practice charges filed after October 1…

On September 5, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law what is dubbed an “NLRB Trigger Bill” amending the New York State Labor Relations Act.  The statute itself is hardly a model of clarity, but its sponsors describe it as an effort to expand the jurisdiction…