Labor Relations / Unions

Supreme Court ruling could slow NLRB’s aggressive agenda

06/26/2014

Good news for employers: The Supreme Court today said President Obama overstepped his executive powers when he used “recess appointments” to name three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). As a result, the NLRB will likely have to rehear more than 100 cases from 2012. This could create a procedural logjam at the NLRB, an agency that has been aggressively pursuing expansion of employee rights on the job.

NLRB makes hospital cough up back pay

06/24/2014

Keck Hospital of USC, formerly the USC University Hospital, has ended a labor dispute by agreeing to pay $87,839 to four employees affected by its decision to unilaterally eliminate an extra shift bonus and a mandatory on-call schedule.

Nursing home’s attempt to dump union costs $1M

06/24/2014

The Yuba Skilled Nursing Facility in Yuba City has paid $1 million in back pay and benefits after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled against it in an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the Service Employees International Union and United Health Care Workers West.

‘Just cause’ clause may stop firing after ‘last chance’

06/16/2014

If your union contract has a “just cause” for termination clause, get the union’s sign-off on a covered employee’s last chance agreement.

MTA rank and file sign contract

06/09/2014

A new contract grants unionized employees of New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority retroactive 1% raises for each of the past two years, which means most will receive one-time payments between $3,000 and $5,000.

Work stoppages fell as union membership declined

05/16/2014

Union membership has been falling for decades. In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 17.7 million Americans carried a union card, about 20.1% of the working-age population. By last year, that percentage had dropped to 11.3%.

Union wants election at Lumber Bridge, N.C. poultry plant

04/30/2014

The union that represents employees at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel put on the feed bag in March to publicize efforts to organize employees at another company’s plant nearby. The goal: To build support for forcing a union election at the Mountainaire Farms poultry plant in Lumber Bridge.

Robeson County, N.C. rues teacher rankings under new law

04/30/2014

Hard on the heels of enactment of a new North Carolina law designed to eliminate tenure for public school teachers, the Robeson County Schools have reluctantly developed a point system to rank its teachers. No one, it seems, likes it—not school administrators and not teachers.

Consider letting employees unionize

04/23/2014

What’s an employer to do when it becomes clear employees want to vote on a union? One strategy may surprise you.

NLRB orders Anderson Lumber to negotiate with Teamsters