With President Biden charting a fundamentally different course in labor relations, employers should monitor developments taking place. In less than three weeks, Washington saw President Biden’s firing of National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) General Counsel Peter Robb, removal of Robb’s Deputy General Counsel Alice Stock, and appointment of Peter Sung Ohr as acting General Counsel
Right-To-Work
Bargaining Power Restored: NLRB Holds Dues Checkoff Ends at Contract Expiration
The National Labor Relations Board has held that an employer has no obligation to continue deducting union dues from employee paychecks pursuant to a dues checkoff provision in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) after the CBA expires. Valley Hospital Medical Center, 368 NLRB No. 139 (Dec. 16, 2019). Chairman John Ring and Members William Emanuel…
Seventh Circuit Declines to Award Damages to Victorious Janus Plaintiff
An employee who paid “fair share” union fees under protest is not entitled to damages to refund any of the money he paid the union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held. Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, No. 19-1553 (Nov. 4, 2019). The Court explained fair share fees were…
Labor Board Upholds Employers’ Right to Provide Truthful Information about Right to Work Laws
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has dismissed a complaint against a Wisconsin employer that published a document informing employees of their right to stop paying union dues under Wisconsin’s right to work law. Metalcraft of Mayville, 367 NLRB No. 116 (Apr. 17, 2019).
Continue Reading Labor Board Upholds Employers’ Right to Provide Truthful Information about Right to Work Laws
Labor Board: Nonmembers Cannot Be Compelled to Pay Union Lobbying Expenses
Unions no longer can require objectors to contribute toward union lobbying costs, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled in a 3-1 decision. United Nurses & Allied Professional (Kent Hospital), 367 NLRB No. 94 (Mar. 1, 2019).
Continue Reading Labor Board: Nonmembers Cannot Be Compelled to Pay Union Lobbying Expenses
Missourians Reject Right-to-Work
Missouri voters have rejected right-to-work. Senate Bill 19, which would have made Missouri the nation’s 28th right-to-work state, was passed by the Missouri legislature on February 2, 2017, and signed into law by then-Governor Eric Greitens. Labor organizations and their supporters gathered enough signatures to keep the law from going into effect until voters …
Kentucky’s Right-to-Work Law Survives Challenge
Kentucky’s right-to-work law has survived a challenge by the AFL-CIO and Teamsters union. The Kentucky legislation passed in the first week of the 2017 legislative session, making the Bluegrass State the 27th to adopt right-to-work legislation (Missouri was the 28th).
A Kentucky state court dismissed the unions’ challenge to the law, which prohibits…
Missouri to Vote on State’s Right-to-Work Law
When Missouri Republican Governor Eric Greitens signed “right-to-work” legislation into law on February 6, 2017, the Show-Me State was on the way to becoming the 28th state to prohibit unions and employers from requiring any employee to be a union member, or pay any dues or like amounts, as a condition of continued employment. …
The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat: Illinois Home Health Aides Must Sue Individually To Recoup Fair Share Fees
Home health aides who successfully objected to the collection of “fair share” fees without their consent may not proceed as a class, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled, affirming a lower court’s determination. Riffey v. Rauner, No.16-3487 (7th Cir. Oct. 11, 2017).
The home health…
Missouri Labor Unions One Step Closer to Overturning State’s Right-to-Work Law
After an expansive campaign that reportedly has cost millions of dollars, Missouri AFL-CIO President Mike Louis claims to have more than enough signatures to put Missouri’s recently enacted “right-to-work” law to a vote next year.
By successfully getting this issue on the ballot, labor unions have effectively stayed the right-to-work law’s impending August 28, 2017…