Labor Relations / Unions

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.

Supreme Court limits union-organizing access

07/06/2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has handed employers a victory in the struggle to keep labor unions at bay, restricting the amount of time organizers can spend at worksites persuading employees to join a union.

Dems to control NLRB as Biden nominates two union-side lawyers

06/29/2021

David Prouty, currently general counsel of the Service Employee International Union’s largest local, would replace outgoing Republican NLRB member William Emanuel, whose term ends in August.

High Court: Only 3 cases affected employers