When employers commit unfair labor practices that disrupt pre-election conditions to the point where the National Labor Relations Board determines a free and fair election could not be held, an parties are ordered to bypass a secret ballot election and to immediately begin negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement. There are no automatic rules in…

Area wage standards, union scale, and “prevailing wages” are minimum payments contractors or subcontractors must pay employees when performing certain publicly funded contracts. A wage standard is calculated based upon the average payments for the corresponding class of laborers or mechanics employed on similar projects in the area and are generally found in multi-employer collective…

Jurisdictional disputes occur when two or more unions make conflicting claims over which group is entitled to perform certain work. For example, many different unions are represented on a construction project and there may be a dispute about who is responsible for cleaning up the scrap at the end of the day. Members of the…

Authorization cards are small cards signed by employees authorizing the union to act on behalf of the employee even though that employee is not a member of the union. These cards are contracts and cannot be undone. When enough authorization cards are signed (no matter what the employee was told to get his signature on…

You just finished a hard fought union campaign, lost, and now have to bargain with the union for a collective bargaining agreement. The next step in the process is the first day of contract bargaining with the union who now represents your employees. The election featured a lot of mudslinging and uncomfortable situations and you…

Union organizing campaigns are increasing both in number and complexity. Companies going through union organizing drives want to limit the union’s ability to access the company’s property both physically (being in the parking lot, break room, walking the floors) and indirectly (through bulletin boards, having employees pass out flyers to coworkers). Now is a good time to…