Labor Relations / Unions

Display new pro-union poster by Nov. 14

09/19/2011

Make room for another poster on your breakroom wall. The National Labor Relations Board announced last month that most private employers will have to display a new poster in their workplaces that notifies employees of their right to form or join a union. The poster is available now for download on the NLRB website.

NLRB issues final employee rights posting rule

09/16/2011

The National Labor Relations Board has announced its final rule on Notification of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The proposed rule had been pending since December of last year. Now that it is final, employers have until Nov. 14 to put up an official poster stating that employees have a right to form or join a union.

Appeals court sends card check case to arbitration

09/16/2011

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sent to arbitration a labor/management dispute over union representation following several lawsuits that accused employers of acting in bad faith by refusing to accept the union as employees’ bargaining representative.

FMLA leave doesn’t mean you can’t discipline

09/13/2011

The FMLA was enacted to let workers briefly put their careers on hold to tend to pressing personal matters like illness, childbirth and adoption, eldercare and other covered events. It was not designed to enable them to avoid discipline. That’s why the law specifically states that employers don’t have to give returning employees benefits they would not have received if they hadn’t taken FMLA leave.

NLRB: You must display new pro-union poster by Nov. 14

09/02/2011

The National Labor Relations Board announced in August that most private employers will soon have to display a new poster in their workplaces notifying employees of their right to form or join a union. The poster—it’s not yet available, but soon will be on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website—must go up by Nov. 14.

Business balks at NLRB ‘quickie election’ proposal

08/29/2011

In a public hearing this summer, business groups weren’t shy in blasting a proposal by the National Labor Relations Board that would expedite the process by which employees vote on forming a union. Brian Hayes, the only Republican member of the NLRB, called the push for such “quickie” or “ambush” elections a “radical manipulation of our election process.”

No more bonuses just for showing up on time

08/23/2011

The South Jersey Port Corporation, which operates shipping terminals on the Delaware River near Philadelphia, has heeded New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s call for fiscal austerity by taking a heretofore unusual step: It will no longer pay bonuses for not being late.

What are the details on the new, proposed NLRB union election rules?

08/11/2011

Q. We are a union shop. We’ve heard the NLRB has new rules about unions. What do they involve and what do they require us to do?

New DOL rule: Report agreements with your lawyer

08/05/2011

Business groups aren’t pleased with new U.S. Department of Labor proposed changes to the so-called “persuader” regulations under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. They say the changes will restrict access to legal counsel and make it easier for unions to organize.

Union, hospital settle case based on ‘dirty linen’ accusations

07/19/2011

Six years of litigation came to an end when the union UNITE HERE and Sutter Health settled charges of defamation, trade libel and intentional interference with prospective economic relations. Sutter Health had accused the union of sending postcards to potential patients calling into question the cleanliness of the hospital chain’s linens.