Employers are pleasantly surprised when I tell them that bargaining for a collective bargaining agreement does not mean that every part of running their business must be negotiated. I then explain what a management rights clause is – a blog entry for a later day – and the difference between mandatory, permissive, and illegal subjects of bargaining.…

Federal Construction Project PLA Requirements: Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) set uniform standards for wages and other conditions of work prior to the commencement of a construction project. Unions are proponents of PLAs because it dramatically reduces competition from non-union construction companies. Unions say PLAs reduce cost and increase efficiency in construction projects. Many others argue…

Major League Baseball Labor Negotiations: Major League Baseball (the League) and the union representing the players are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations are not going well. The League locked out the players. No trades or Spring Training can occur until the owners lift the lockout. The two sides are very far apart. For example,…

Hiding Union Finances: The U.S. Department of Labor rescinded a 2020 regulation that subjected union apprenticeship programs and strike funds to stricter reporting requirements just as the first disclosure deadline approached. That regulation required the disclosure of receipt of the funds and a trail to where the money went. Proponents of the regulation said it increased…

The data is in. More union strikes occurred in the fourth quarter of 2021 than at any time in the previous decade. Strikes have increased each quarter since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m not surprised. The labor climate is changing. The combination of the Great Resignation and President Biden’s overwhelmingly pro-union labor agenda, newly…

When can a Union See an Employer’s Investigation File: Under the National Labor Relations Act, an employer must provide a union with information it requests within a reasonable time or tell the union why the employer will not provide the information. In United States Postal Service, 371 NLRB No. 7 (2021), the union requested the investigation file…