White-collar, high-tech workers at Kickstarter in Brooklyn have voted 47-36 for union representation by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. (Five eligible voters did not vote.) The trailblazing win could inspire similar employees in the tech industry to channel their social activism and
Patrick L. Egan
Patrick L. Egan is a principal in the Boston, Massachusetts, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Patrick works in traditional labor law.
He has assisted employers in all industries in all phases of union organizing campaigns. Patrick has represented employers in card-signing efforts and representation and decertification campaigns. He has conducted union awareness and positive employee relations training for hundreds of companies and employer groups. He has also assisted dozens of employers to preempt, prepare for and defend against union corporate campaigning.
Patrick has appeared for employers in representation, objections and challenged ballot hearings at the National Labor Relations Board. He has also represented employers in unfair labor practice charge investigations and trials. Patrick has also represented employers before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other state and federal agencies. Patrick has served as chief spokesman at hundreds of collective bargaining negotiations, including negotiations seeking a first contract and those aimed at reaching a successor contract. He speaks frequently before various employer and human resources groups on a variety of labor relations topics.
Patrick was a four-year starter and a senior captain of the varsity soccer team at Holy Cross.
After practicing management-side labor law at smaller firms in Springfield and Boston, Massachusetts, Patrick joined Jackson Lewis in 1990. He was elected a partner effective January 1, 1995.
Union Launches National Organizing Effort in Gaming and Tech Industries
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has begun a nationwide union-organizing campaign targeting game and tech industry employees, in partnership with Game Workers Unite! (GWU), a so-called “grass-roots” worker group founded in Southern California in 2018 to spur unionization in the gaming industry. As here, such groups typically are founded and funded by established labor…
NLRB Members Lean Toward Possible Easing of Restrictions on Off-Duty Employee Access Rules
Two of the four members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have indicated they are willing to rethink a key element of the Board’s more-than-40-year-old precedent regarding employers’ off-duty employee access rules under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Southern Bakeries, 368 NLRB No. 59 (Aug. 28, 2019).
Members William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan,…
Ride-Hail Drivers Are Independent Contractors, Not Employees, NLRB GC Concludes
UberX and UberBLACK drivers are independent contractors, not employees, of Uber, the General Counsel (GC) of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has determined in a recently released Advice Memorandum.
The drivers therefore are not employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and are not eligible for NLRB-certified union representation or the protections of the NLRA.Continue Reading Ride-Hail Drivers Are Independent Contractors, Not Employees, NLRB GC Concludes
NLRB Finds Sports Team’s Electronic-Content Workers Employees Eligible To Unionize
The National Labor Relations Board has found the individuals who produce electronic content for viewing during professional basketball games are employees, rather than independent contractors. Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball, LP, 365 NLRB No. 124 (2017). The Board reversed the decision of an NLRB regional director and reinstated a representation petition filed by the International Alliance…
House Bill Spotlights Paid Union Activities By Federal Employees
A House bill would require federal agencies to report annually on the amount of “official time” (i.e., taxpayer-paid time) that federal employees spend on union activities rather than working at their regular job duties. H.R. 1293 (the “Official Time Reform Act of 2017”) was introduced by Rep. David Ross (R-Fla.) on March 1, 2017, and…
Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of NLRB’s Former Acting General Counsel’s Decisions Following Nomination
The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted the National Labor Relations Board’s petition to decide if a former acting general counsel of the NLRB served in violation of federal law. NLRB v. SW General, Inc., Case 15-1251 (June 20, 2016).
As we wrote here earlier (“Complaint Issued by NLRB’s Acting General Counsel was Unauthorized…
Supreme Court Upholds Right of Public Sector Unions to Charge Mandatory Union Fees
By a 4-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that public sector unions could require employees to pay an agency fee to a union as a condition of employment. Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, No. 14-915 (Mar. 29, 2016).
The plaintiffs had argued that their First Amendment rights were…
Labor Board Acts to Address Budget Deficit
The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel has directed the Board’s regional offices to institute cost-cutting measures in light of a significant budget deficit facing the agency for the balance of fiscal year 2016 (ending September 30).
In Memorandum OM-16-09, NLRB Associate General Counsel Anne Purcell instructed regional directors, officers-in-charge, and residents officers to institute…
Virginia Voters to Decide on Right-to-Work Constitutional Amendment
Virginia voters will have the opportunity this fall to strengthen the state’s right-to-work laws by adding a constitutional amendment prohibiting mandatory union membership as a condition of employment in the Commonwealth. The amendment would buttress the state’s current right-to-work statute.
On February 24, 2016, Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) approved legislation placing a referendum before voters…