How do You Lose a Union Election after Winning It?
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
Employees at an industrial aluminum facility in New York started a union organizing drive. The Company countered with an anti-union campaign. The union lost the election by roughly 271 votes for representation to 285 votes to stay union-free. During the campaign period, the union filed numerous unfair labor practice charges alleging that the Company restored…
Read More National Labor Relations Board and Deferral: The Law has Changed, Have You Kept Up?
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
Deferral is a term that hardcore labor lawyers, like yours truly, know, but unless you are a seasoned labor practitioner, you probably don’t know what it means. In the NLRB’s 1955 Spielberg ruling, the Board decided that it would defer to arbitrators’ decisions when the proceedings appeared to have been fair and regular, the parties…
Read More Long-Retired Employees See Fully Vested Pensions Drastically Cut by Multiemployer Pension Reform Act
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) was signed by President Obama on December 15th as part of a last-minute deal approved by lawmakers as they were leaving town for Christmas break. The MPRA allows funds to cut benefits for workers and current retirees if the plan is 20% or more underfunded. In other…
Read More Volkswagen Agrees to Meet with Any Organization Representing 15% of a Group of Workers
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
Remember last year when the United Autoworkers Union tried to organize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee? Remember how the UAW failed to win the secret ballot election to represent the VW workers, despite the company welcoming the union at the plant? Well, the UAW was down, but not out. VW and the UAW are…
Read More Resident Physicians at a University Hospital Join a Union to Save the Company Money
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
Resident physicians and fellows at Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C. recently joined the Service Employees International Union. According to union leadership, residents had a range of concerns including parking, meals, salary, and the financial sustainability of the hospital. The financial stability of the hospital element is most noteworthy. In late 2014, the Washington D.C.…
Read More NLRB Wants Former Employers to Pay for Job Search Expenses of Former Employees
By Management Labor Lawyer | | NLRB
National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Richard Griffin instructed NLRB Regional Offices to request employees be reimbursed for job search costs and work-related expenses they incur due to violations of the National Labor Relations Act. This order modified a 2011 order by then acting-general counsel Lafe Solomon. Solomon wrote that the Board’s practice was to…
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