Welcome to The Labor Leader – a weekly recap of the most valuable content on labor relations from an employer’s perspective. The National Labor Relations Act covers both union and non-union private-sector employers. This newsletter is a digest of my views on labor laws, the National Labor Relations Board, and unions. ______________________________ Gen Z is…

The NLRB General Counsel wants to undo a 60-year law and put strict limitations on when companies may permanently replace strikers. Currently, employers can permanently replace workers who strike to obtain economic concessions so long as hiring the replacements was not for an “independent unlawful purpose.” The GC has the burden of proving the employer…

This is a textbook example of why employees join unions. Clinicians of a start-up in the behavioral health market are organizing a union. The company is like many other companies in several industries: a venture-backed, software-focused, start-up. I see these companies in every industry. Some of them are my clients. This company is not. These…

Did you know that union authorization cards are not revokable even if the employee did not know the meaning of what she signed? This is a typical story that I hear several times per year. And it ended exactly the way I expected it to end. Employee Baro attended a presentation by the Lake County…

Strike activity is expected to increase significantly throughout 2023. 2022 saw a resurgence of employees striking, especially when trying to organize a union. Last year had about 380 strikes, involving more than 200,000 workers. 22 of these strikes were “major work stoppages” involving 1,000 or more workers. By comparison, 2021 had 43% fewer major work…

Employers: Prepare to Negotiate Work From Home Policies I’ve said it before (and I will likely say it again) – unions negotiating collective bargaining agreements in 2023 will seek to solidify work from home commitments for employees who worked from home during the Covid pandemic. While I’m sure some unions have not made this proposal,…