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Labor Relations / Unions

Where can I get the new EEO poster we need?

09/03/2010
Q. I heard something about a new EEO poster that employers are required to have in their workplaces. Can you explain this new requirement?

Was N.Y. union staffer fired for trying to organize a union?

09/01/2010

Until recently, Jim Callaghan was a writer for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the union that represents New York City teachers and that has made its name by actively opposing city officials’ power to fire teachers without due process. Now Callaghan is claiming UFT employees have no such protection themselves. He says he was fired after he began looking into unionizing UFT editorial employees.

Upside of unions: No suing for wrongful termination

08/27/2010
In North Carolina, union employees have to use their contracts to pursue claims they were unfairly fired. They can’t do what at-will employees can do—sue for wrongful termination.

Know your union posting requirements under Executive Order 13496

08/27/2010
Final rules are now in place for enforcing Executive Order 13496, the White House decree requiring all federal contractors and subcontractors to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act—the primary federal law governing the relationship between private-sector employers and unions.

With EFCA on the ropes, unions shift their focus to the NLRB

08/23/2010
As we approach the Nov. 2 midterm congressional elections, chances for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act grow dimmer and dimmer. But that hasn’t diminished unions’ push for EFCA-like reforms through the National Labor Relations Board—especially now that a solid three-vote majority of former union lawyers is serving on the board. The battleground clearly has shifted to the NLRB.

California workers ratify union contract with DPA

08/23/2010
California-based members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) have ratified a two-year labor agreement with the California Department of Personnel Administration (DPA).

NLRB schedules union vote for 45,000 Kaiser workers

08/23/2010

The National Labor Relations Board in August approved plans for a mail ballot election to begin Sept. 13 for tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees throughout California. The election will determine if the workers at the health care giant will be represented by one of three unions. Kaiser employees also have the option of voting for no union representation.

UC postdoctoral researchers reach tentative agreement

08/23/2010

On Aug. 1, a union representing postdoctoral researchers at the University of California reached a tentative collective-bargaining agreement. The five-year pact between the university system and Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/UAW (PRO/UAW), which represents 6,500 postdoctoral researchers in the UC system, calls for pay increases of at least 3% per year from 2010 to 2015 for researchers earning less than $47,000.

Asked to settle union election challenge, 9th Circuit punts it back to NLRB

08/23/2010

In a recent article, we explain how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is struggling to clear a backlog of cases after a huge Supreme Court decision invalidating many prior decisions. Now the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has added to the NLRB’s burden by kicking a case back to the board rather than deciding it in court.

Can you prove malice behind union claims?

08/23/2010

These days, unions are using tough tactics, including targeting nonunion employers with postcard campaigns that urge the public to boycott nonunion products and services. Some of those mailings may be misleading—or flat-out lies. You could sue for defamation, but that’s an uphill battle …