Steven Porzio
Partner
Steven J. Porzio is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Labor-Management Relations Group. Steve assists both unionized and union-free clients with a full range of labor and employee relations matters. He represents employers in contract negotiations, arbitrations, and representation and unfair labor practice cases before the National Labor Relations Board.
Steve has experience conducting vulnerability assessments and providing management training in union and litigation avoidance, leave management, wage and hour, and hiring and firing practices. He provides strategic and legal advice in certification and decertification elections, union organizing drives, corporate campaigns, picketing and union contract campaigns. Steve has represented employers in a number of different industries, including higher education, health care, construction and manufacturing in successful efforts against unions in election and corporate campaigns.
In addition to his traditional labor law work, Steve assists companies with handbook and personnel policy drafting and review, daily management of employee disciplines and terminations, and general advice and counsel on compliance with federal and state employment laws.
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On October 31, 2022, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo (“GC Abruzzo”) issued a memorandum in which she pushed for zealous enforcement and Board adoption of a “new framework” to protect employees from intrusive or abusive forms of electronic monitoring and automated management that interfere with protected Section 7 activity. GC Abruzzo asserted: it is “the … Continue Reading
On June 21, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a press release indicating that the Regional Director of Region 3 requested injunctive relief from a United States District Court on behalf of seven former Starbucks employees in Buffalo, New York after the employees were allegedly fired for engaging in unionizing activities. This petition … Continue Reading
On June 21, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) released its rulemaking agenda for Spring 2022, indicating the Board is considering revisions to two significant and tumultuous topics pursuant to the rulemaking process: (1) the joint-employer standard under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”), and (2) representation procedures, including those relating to blocking charges, … Continue Reading
In an Advice Memorandum released on May 25, 2022, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo laid out a blueprint for changes she’d like made to Board precedent concerning union representatives’ access to employer property. At issue is a pair of 2019 rulings by the NLRB in UPMC, 368 NLRB No. 2 (2019) and Kroger Ltd. P’ship, … Continue Reading
On April 27, 2022, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released a memorandum to all NLRB field offices detailing and encouraging an extensive partnership with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (“FMCS”). The FMCS is an independent agency created to “preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation.” In doing so, FMCS provides services to assist with … Continue Reading
On April 6, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a press release recognizing the shockingly large surge in new union organizing. Specifically, during the first half of Fiscal Year 2022 (October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022), the NLRB reported that union representation petitions increased by 57%. Representation petitions are … Continue Reading
For decades, employers had been free to gather employees to discuss – in a non-coercive manner – the employer’s views on unionization, and had been free to share with employees what employees’ rights were with respect to the same. Earlier today, the NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum declaring her intent to attempt to overturn … Continue Reading
On February 7, 2022, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment issued a report recommending, among other things, increased coordination among agencies working on labor and employment matters. In a memorandum circulated on February 10, 2022, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer A. Abruzzo announced her agreement with that recommendation and … Continue Reading
On January 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that the two agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing procedures on information-sharing, joint investigations and enforcement activity, and training meant to strengthen the agencies’ partnership in enforcing the laws administered between the two agencies. The … Continue Reading
On November 10, 2021, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum outlining bargaining obligations under OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (“ETS”). Responding to Inquiries Regarding Bargaining Obligations Under the Department of Labor’s Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus, GC 22-03 (November 10, 2021). The ETS, which took effect on … Continue Reading
Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), along with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), announced the creation of an interagency initiative to raise awareness of worker retaliation issues. Building upon their pre-existing interagency relationships, the NLRB, DOL, and EEOC seek to further protect workers from unlawful retaliatory … Continue Reading
As we discussed here, members of the House Education and Labor Committee have been attempting to end-run the procedural hurdles that have prevented the Protect the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”) legislation from becoming law, through a process called “budget reconciliation.” (For a refresher on the PRO Act, see our blog posts on the … Continue Reading
Effective as of October 5, 2021, Int. 2397-2021 requires operators of “transient hotels” (as defined by Section 12-10 of the New York City zoning resolutions) to pay their employees severance pay if: (1) the hotel closed to the public and has not, by October 11, 2021, recalled at least 25% of the number of employees … Continue Reading
Today, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a very significant memorandum on the status of college athletes as “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act. Statutory Rights of Players at Academic Institutions (Student-Athletes) Under the National Labor Relations Act, GC 21-08 (September 29, 2021). In today’s memorandum, GC Abruzzo reinstates a former GC Memorandum, GC 17-01, … Continue Reading
General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, is already on her way to accomplishing one of the objectives she laid out in her recent Advice-Memorandum 21-04 (discussed here earlier on this blog). In the GC’s memo, she identified a number of Board decisions to re-evaluate, including Bexar County Performing Arts Ctr. Found., … Continue Reading
As we have discussed in previous posts (see here and here), the Protect the Right to Organize Act (“PRO Act”), which would drastically and fundamentally change the nature and scope of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) and labor-management relations in the private sector, has languished in the U.S. House of Representatives over the last … Continue Reading
In keeping with the momentum of her Office, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum yesterday to all Regional Offices advising them to request that the Board exercise its broad discretion in fashioning remedies for workers impacted by unfair labor practices, indicating the General Counsel’s intent to impose more onerous penalties … Continue Reading
The recently-sworn in General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, has had a busy month, setting the stage for a slate of new enforcement initiatives. First, the GC issued Advice Memorandum 21-04 (discussed here last week), identifying numerous Board decisions that are all but certain to be reassessed once the full complement … Continue Reading
The NLRB’s “contract coverage” standard for determining whether a collective bargaining agreement privileges an employer to unilaterally change terms and conditions of employment received support last week from a federal court of appeals, further solidifying the legitimacy of the relatively new standard at a time when the Board is undergoing a change in leadership and … Continue Reading
Less than a month after being sworn in as the new General Counsel of the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo defined a bold new direction for the Board’s enforcement priorities in a memo issued on August 12, 2021. The memo, Mandatory Submissions to Advice GC Memorandum 21-04 (August 12, 2021), lays out subject matters that NLRB Regions … Continue Reading
A split Board concluded this week that a union did not engage in unlawful secondary activity under the NLRA when it stationed a 12-foot-tall inflatable rat—known all too well by employers as “Scabby the Rat”—and two 8-foot banners on the worksite of a neutral employer for the purpose of forcing the neutral employer to cease … Continue Reading
After being nominated by President Biden on February 17, 2021, Jennifer Abruzzo was sworn in as General Counsel of the NLRB yesterday by Chairman Lauren McFerran. Abruzzo will serve a four-year term as General Counsel, spearheading the agency’s investigation and prosecution of unfair labor practice cases and supervising the NLRB field offices in the processing … Continue Reading
As we reported here and here, there are several challenges to the authority of the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, Peter Sung Ohr, given President Biden’s unprecedented move of terminating the sitting General Counsel, Peter Robb, in January 2021. One recent challenge to the Acting General Counsel’s authority was brought before … Continue Reading
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a decision by the NLRB dismissing a complaint against two joint employers alleging unlawful termination in retaliation for picketing activity. The Court, reversing the Board, found that the employees’ picket was not unlawful secondary activity and therefore did not lose the protection … Continue Reading
NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo Issues Memo on Employer Surveillance in the Modern Workplace
By Steven Porzio and Ethan Picone on Posted in NLRB
NLRB Pursues 10(j) Injunction and Bargaining Order Against Starbucks Based on Conduct In Union Organizing Campaign
By Steven Porzio and Melissa C. Felcher on Posted in NLRB
NLRB Releases Spring Rulemaking Agenda Forecasting Changes To Joint Employer Standard and Representation Election Procedures
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Megan Childs on Posted in NLRB
General Counsel Abruzzo Looks to Overturn Board Precedent Again: This Time, Seeking to Broaden Union Access to Public Spaces
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Caroline Libby on Posted in NLRA, NLRB
NLRB General Counsel Looks to Partner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to Support Voluntary Recognition and Collective Bargaining
By Steven Porzio and Melissa C. Felcher on Posted in NLRB
Union Representation Petitions Increase by Astonishing 57% in the First Half of FY 2022
By Steven Porzio and Melissa C. Felcher on Posted in Uncategorized
NLRB GC Seeks Dramatic Change to Employer’s Right to Speak to Employees About Unionization at Work
By Michael Lebowich, Mark Theodore, Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Uncategorized
NLRB General Counsel Announces Commitment to Inter-Agency Coordination
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Timothy Kelly on Posted in NLRB
BREAKING: The Department of Labor and The National Labor Relations Board Announce Agreement Enhancing Cooperation Between the Agencies
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Jordan Simon on Posted in Department of Labor, NLRB
BREAKING: NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo on Bargaining Obligations Under OSHA’s Vaccination Requirements
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Tony S. Martinez on Posted in NLRB
NLRB, DOL, and EEOC Announce Joint Initiative to Combat Worker Retaliation
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Uncategorized
While Democrats Whittle Down Pro-Labor Provisions Of Social Spending Bill, Civil Penalties Remain
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Uncategorized
NYC Enacts Severance Pay Requirements for Displaced Hotel Workers
By Michael Lebowich, Steven Porzio, Arielle E. Kobetz and Rachel Kessler on Posted in Employer policies
BREAKING: General Counsel Abruzzo Announces that College Athletes Are Employees
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in NLRB
D.C. Circuit Court Rules NLRB’s Access to Property Test is Arbitrary
By Steven Porzio and Rachel Kessler on Posted in Uncategorized
House Committee Attempts to Secure “PRO Act” Changes to Labor Law Through Reconciliation Process of Next Federal Budget
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Dakota D. Treece on Posted in Uncategorized
NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo Encourages Regions to Utilize More Significant Remedies When Resolving Unfair Labor Practices
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in NLRB
New NLRB General Counsel Signals Greater Utilization of 10(j) Injunctions
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Thomas B. Fiascone on Posted in Uncategorized
Second Circuit Adopts “Contract Coverage” Standard as Governing Standard for Unilateral Changes
By Paul Salvatore, Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in NLRB
The NLRB’S Recently Seated General Counsel Plots Entirely New Direction for the Board
By Steven Porzio, Joshua Fox and Yonatan Grossman-Boder on Posted in NLRB
Scabby the Rat Has Been Legitimized by the NLRB
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in NLRA, NLRB
BREAKING: Jennifer Abruzzo is Sworn In as General Counsel of the NLRB
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage, NLRA, NLRB
District Court Approves of President Biden’s Firing of Former NLRB General Counsel, But is This the Final Word?
By Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in Biden Administration Coverage
Ninth Circuit Overturns Board Decision Finding Unlawful Secondary Picketing, Citing Insufficient Evidence of an Intent to Coerce a Neutral Employer
By Paul Salvatore, Steven Porzio and Elizabeth Dailey on Posted in NLRA, Section 8(b)(4)(i)(B)
