Personnel expenses account for $200 million of the Metropolitan Opera’s $327 million budget. The Met wants to reduce labor costs by 16% by getting the union to accept modern-day, common sense work rules and less generous pension and health benefits. Orchestra members reportedly make $200,000 per year on average and get 16 weeks off with…

Liberty Toyota factually told its Illinois employees that their Florida counterparts were still waiting for a union contract three years after voting for union representation. According to the NLRB, this factual statement “effectively communicated” that if the Illinois employees voted in favor of the International Association of Machinists union, that they too would suffer years…

Managers at a Giant Eagle grocery store in Edinboro, Pennsylvania wanted to reward hard working employees. So they boosted the wages of two dozen high-performing employees above their union rates. This upset the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23 union that represents the employees. The union argued the pay increased violated their contract and…

Wanting to improve the professional image of its employees, a hospital decided to revamp its dress code policy. Included in the revisions was a color-coded uniform system designed to help staff, patients, and visitors more easily identify and distinguish employees. The hospital did not inform the union about these changes. An unlawful change, the NLRB…

Employee Neel began working at a call center in early 2011 that solicited donations for non-profits. He was instrumental in organizing workers into a union, was elected union steward, and became a member on the union negotiating committee. Neel was fired in 2012 for breaking multiple protocols while on the phone. Yet, the Board ruled…

Moen terminated the lifetime health care benefits of workers who retired from its Elyria, Ohio plant, along with the benefits for their spouses and eligible dependents. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio called this case an “easy” decision and found that the parties intended for the retirees’ benefits to be vested…