Labor Relations / Unions

Labor unions gain members and influence

12/22/2021

Over the last 18 months, organized labor has enjoyed an uptick in both membership—up 0.1% in 2020—and public opinion. A 2020 Gallup poll found 65% of Americans have a favorable view of unions, the highest rating since 1965.

NLRB orders union election do-over at Amazon facility

12/02/2021

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama will have another chance to vote on union representation after a National Labor Relations Board official ruled the online retailer interfered with an election held last spring.

Know the tech tools that aid union organizing

11/02/2021

Until recently, unhappy workers could only grouse among themselves during breaks or after work. Not anymore! Now, workers enthusiastically use social media to take their concerns public and initiate union-organizing activity. These are the tech tools workers are using to accelerate union organizing. Get familiar with them and monitor them so you have time to develop an effective response.

Prepare for the coming wave of union activism and strikes

10/14/2021

The pandemic-induced labor shortage has emboldened labor unions and individual workers to demand more money and better benefits. Increasingly, they are backing up their requests with action by going out on strike.

Beware retaliation against activist employees

10/07/2021

Amazon has agreed to settle allegations it retaliated against two former employees who organized demonstrations decrying the retail giant’s environmental impact and helped employees protest working conditions.

NLRB: Student-athletes may be employees

10/05/2021

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a guidance memo on Sept. 29 advising the board’s field staff that “certain” NCAA athletes “are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and, as such, are afforded all statutory protections.”

NLRB spells out relief for victims of unfair labor practices

09/14/2021

National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has directed NLRB regional officials to ensure workers and unions harmed by violations of the National Labor Relations Act “are made whole for losses they have suffered.”

NLRB agenda: Overturn Trump-era decisions favoring employers

08/17/2021

Less than a month into her term as the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo wasted no time putting her stamp on the board’s agenda. Abruzzo moved into her new office on July 22. On Aug. 12, she issued an advisory memo that signals a likely effort to reverse many of the NLRB’s Trump-era decisions.

Infrastructure legislation notable for what’s not in it

08/10/2021

The massive infrastructure bill moving through the U.S. Senate would provide $1.2 trillion to build and repair roads, bridges and tunnels; modernize the nation’s utilities; expand broadband coverage; and address climate change. One thing it won’t do: Advance the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

PRO Act gets Senate hearing as unions gain political traction

07/27/2021

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act—pro-union legislation that has already passed in the House of Representatives—was the topic of a lengthy July 22 hearing by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The hearing won’t lead directly to passage in the Senate, but it could elevate union organizing as a campaign issue in the 2022 mid-term elections.