Labor Day 2022 comes at an optimistic time for U.S. labor unions. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, representation petitions and elections were declining steadily. However, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election filings have increased by 58% in the first nine months of 2022, compared with the same time period in 2021, according to a Board
NLRA
NLRB Rules Employers Cannot Restrict Employees’ Right to Display Union Insignia
On August 29, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision finding that absent special circumstances, employers may not enforce dress codes or uniform policies that interfere with employees’ right to display union insignia. 371 NLRB No. 131 (Aug. 29, 2022). The NLRB’s decision is a return to a more restrictive precedent for…
Build Back Better Act Update: Committee Releases Labor Provisions for Inclusion in Senate Vote
The Build Back Better Act passed the House on November 19, 2021. It contains controversial provisions on many subjects, including new employer penalties under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). On December 11th, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions released its version of the provisions of the Build Back Better bill on…
Build Back Better Reconciliation Bill Includes Heavy New Penalties for Employer Violations of NLRA
The media has been covering the budget bill – the Build Back Better Act – which contains controversial provisions on many subjects. Among them are provisions that include new employer penalties under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The political roadblock on the bill is a probable Senate filibuster which would prevent passage. The Biden…
GC Abruzzo’s Aggressive Remedial Agenda Begins
On October 8, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) West Los Angeles regional office issued an unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint against the Daily Grill for allegedly violating section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by engaging in a pattern of delay intended to frustrate the bargaining process, according to the NLRB…
NLRB General Counsel Instructs Regions to Seek Enhanced Penalties NOW
As we discussed in our recent report on National Labor Relations Board General Counsel (“GC”) Jennifer Abruzzo’s August 12th agenda for the direction of NLRB case law, employers should be ready for an aggressive expansion of remedies that the NLRB will seek. In the short time since the GC’s memorandum was published, NLRB Chairman McFerran…
Third Time the Charm? NLRB to Revisit Rights of Contractor Employee Access to Employer Property
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) must reconsider its newest ruling on the rights of certain employees to access private property to engage in activity on behalf of a union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has directed in an August 31, 2021, decision remanding NLRB v. Local 23, American Federation…
NLRB Refuses to Deflate ‘Scabby the Rat’
A union’s use of Scabby the Rat (an inflatable rat “approximately 12 feet in height with red eyes, fangs, and claws”) and inflammatory banners targeting a neutral employer, without more, does not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. Lippert Components Inc., 371 NLRB No. 8…
NLRB Regional Director Expands Unit by Thousands of Voters, But ‘Micro Units’ Held at Bay, For Now
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissed a union’s push to organize a micro unit of 87 employees at a Nissan assembly plant in Tennessee based on the traditional community-of-interest standards for determining whether a unit is appropriate. Nissan North America, Inc., 10-RC-273024 (June 11, 2021).
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers…
D.C. Circuit Flips NLRB; Employer’s Alleged ‘Baseless’ Statements of Opinion Lawful
“Absent threats or promises, § 8(c) [of the National Labor Relations Act] unambiguously protects ‘any views, argument or opinion’ – even those that the agency finds misguided, flimsy, or daft,” the D.C. Circuit has held. Trinity Services Group, Inc. v. NLRB, No. 20-1014 (D.C. Cir. June 1, 2021)
The Court was asked to…