Unfair Labor Practices

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Labor Day is upon us.  It is fitting, therefore, to enter the weekend with another case that exemplifies the bizarre world of labor relations.  Like the case of the human resource manager who turned on his employer, or the nurse who felt her union activity protected her in screaming…

The NLRB suffered a setback this week when its interpretation of Weingarten rights was rebuffed by the D.C. Court of Appeals.  This is the same court that recently declared the agency was acting more as an “advocate than adjudicator” in a case involving access to an employer’s premises.…

When bargaining over an agreement, it is common to hear union representatives ask “why do we need such elaborate language in an agreement?  We are always reasonable.”  To which, the company usually responds, “We think you’re nifty but the next person holding your job may not be as reasonable; better…

The advent of social media resulted in a feverish effort by the NLRB to keep up with new technology.  In reality, the legal standard for evaluating whether conduct is protected concerted activity did not change.  Rather, all the excitement was over the fact employees were being punished for things they…

We are on the verge of the Board majority changing for the first time in approximately a decade. The President’s two appointees, if confirmed, will bring the Board up to a full five members.  After the new members are seated we likely will see big changes to the law.  In…

When an employer and a union sit down to bargain they often agree to ground rules for how negotiations are to be conducted.  A common ground rule, for example, is for the parties to agree to address “non-economic” items before addressing economic proposals.  Other ground rules include things like confidentiality…

A significant change in NLRB precedent during the last few years was the added requirement that an employer bargain over discretionary aspects of discipline in the period between the union acquiring representational rights and the first contract.  Given the limited set of circumstances one doesn’t see a whole lot of…

During the last several years, the NLRB has overturned a great deal of existing precedent.  Among other changes, the Board has required bargaining over discipline in newly organized units, found graduate students to be employees entitled to organize, and found that two employers may have to bargain together.  The…