Uber has become a household name. The latest controversy with Uber is determining whether its drivers are employees or independent contractors. A California labor commissioner has ruled that an Uber driver was an employee, and Uber must reimburse the employee roughly $4,000 for bridge tolls, mileage, and other expenses incurred while working as an Uber…

There is a common misconception that unionization rates are decreasing. To balance any decrease in industries like manufacturing, unions are exploring how to infiltrate new industries. One such industry is education. While the unionization of adjunct faculty at universities across the nation receives most of the attention, unions are quietly organizing charter schools as well.…

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is objecting to Patriot Coal’s proposed plan to sell the majority of its operating assets. Patriot Coal proposes using a “stalking horse bidder,” which is when the best bidder gets some incentives before the auction. These incentives are intended to increase the value of the starting bid and…

A hotel suspended a union employee pending investigation of an alleged theft from a hotel guest. In response to the suspension, employees gathered in a staff cafeteria demanding to discuss the employee’s suspension. The housekeeping director began suspending the employees about an hour after they had gathered. He suspended 77 workers for five days and…

We have warned you several times (here, here and here) that the National Labor Relations Board was going to change the definition of joint employer to the detriment of Companies. Yesterday our fear came true. In fact, two Board members said this was “the most sweeping of recent major decisions.” Staffing and user companies, franchisors,…

The Century Foundation (Foundation), a nonprofit research organization, recently released a report explaining the benefits of designing a virtual platform for union organizing. This proposal comes on the heels of the NLRB’s decision to allow the use of company email during non-work time for communications that are protected by the National Labor Relations Act. [See,…