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Labor Relations / Unions

How does a layoff affect seniority for someone receiving workers’ comp benefits?

04/20/2009

Q. We have an employee who had been performing light-duty work for more than six months. We laid him off based on his seniority. Now he is receiving workers’ compensation benefits again. Our collective-bargaining agreement provides that an employee will lose seniority after being laid off for a year. Does the fact that our employee is receiving workers’ comp benefits have any effect on his seniority rights?

SF Chronicle employees ratify contract concessions

04/17/2009

The California Media Workers Guild has announced that its members voted to accept concessionary amendments to their collective-bargaining contract with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Court of Appeal rules in favor of grocery workers

04/17/2009

A California Court of Appeal has reversed a ruling against grocery store workers represented by the United Food and Commercial workers who were locked out during a 4½-month labor dispute in 2003 and 2004. The dispute stemmed from an effort by approximately 8,000 workers at Albertsons and Ralphs grocery stores to obtain unemployment benefits for the time they were locked out.

What does the proposed Employee Free Choice Act involve, and what are its prospects?

04/17/2009

Q. The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has been headline news as of late. What is this proposed legislation?

Supreme Court: Collective-bargaining agreements can force workers to arbitrate discrimination claims

04/17/2009

Siding with employers, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that union contracts could bind employees to arbitrate discrimination claims under federal law. The court ruled against a group of fired night watchmen in New York who wanted to pursue age discrimination lawsuits in court.

Must we call back laid-off workers first?

04/17/2009

Q. Are we required to call back an employee who’s been laid off? The person wasn’t a responsible employee and called off often. Are we obligated to call the person back to work if we have an opening, or are we eligible to hire someone else?

Chicago sit-in employees will be called back

04/15/2009

The 250 Republic Windows and Doors workers who staged a sit-in at the Chicago plant last December will be called back to work over the next few months as part of a bankruptcy proceeding. The workers started the sit-in after Republic owner Rich Gillman closed the unionized plant and opened a nonunion plant in Iowa days later.

Can we ban nurses from wearing protest buttons—without violating the NLRA?

04/14/2009

Q. Some of the nurses at our hospital have started wearing union buttons that state, “Nurses Demand Safe Staffing.” If the hospital administrators ban the buttons, will the hospital have committed an unfair labor practice?

N.J. Supreme Court: Strikers may be entitled to unemployment

03/30/2009

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that an employer that continues to provide all or substantially all of its services during a strike will be hard-pressed to oppose its striking employees’ applications for unemployment benefits. That’s true even if the strike results in significant losses in revenue and profits.

School district pulls salary scale bait-and-switch

03/26/2009

A hearing examiner for the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has ruled the Loyalsock Township School District engaged in an unfair labor practice when it failed to release the salary scale the district and teachers’ union agreed upon in the final contract.