The former head of a Michigan construction union was recently charged with extorting union business agents and other employees to each pay $5,000 of their salaries per year into his personal “Slate Fund.” The fund was to be used for union election campaign expenses. But, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, the…

A union that had sought to organize a casino for years took its efforts to a new level when it projected a three-story image onto the wall of the casino. Concerned that the light was a safety hazard that could blind motorists, the casino called the police who told the union to shut off the…

By now, most companies know that the National Labor Relations Board frowns upon mandatory arbitration agreements, even voluntarily entered into ones, and now even ones that permit employees to file charges with the Board. Specifically, an Administrative Law Judge found that the company acted unlawfully in making it “reasonably clear” that individual employees could file…

Section 102.61(a)(8) of the National Labor Relations Board’s rules requires that a certification petition “shall contain a statement that the employer declines to recognize the petitioner as the representative within the meaning of Section 9(a) of the Act or that the labor organization is currently recognized but desires certification under the Act.” The NLRB’s standard…

Unions are always quick to cast stones against companies and allege that employers retaliate against workers who stand up for their rights. Yet some unions don’t realize they live in a glass house. The Operating Engineers union recently retaliated against a female member by removing her name from a work-eligible list at its hiring hall…

This case is interesting not because it involves the captain of a tugboat. Rather, its interest lies in that the NLRB has concluded that the highest-ranking person at a worksite, and the “person in charge,” is not necessarily a supervisor. In this case, it is clear that six person crews on tugboats must obey commands…