The Los Angeles Times recently reported on a “poll” by Hart Research purporting to show widespread labor law violations in the restaurant industry – an industry currently under intense unionization efforts from many major labor unions. The “poll” was commissioned by SEIU worker center “Low Pay is Not OK” – the group orchestrating strikes at…

Companies that think only union employees can go on strike are sorely mistaken. Non-union employees can and do strike – oftentimes as part of a broader union organizing strategy. An auto parts supplier in Toledo, Ohio recently learned this the hard way. Workers at Piston Automotive, an important parts supplier to Jeep, walked off the…

Jose Oliva, a director for the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a prominent worker center, recently explained how worker centers are nonprofit groups that are an alternate form of labor organizing. Most major unions have established and funded their own worker centers to further their own causes. According to Oliva, a union can collect dues from…

Unions are required to file annual LM-2s that transparently track union finances and business dealings. The United Food and Commercial Workers’ union (UFCW) recently filed its LM-2 again admitting that it is the front group for OUR Wal-Mart. Specifically, UFCW’s response to question 11(b) states: “The UFCW has a subsidiary organization maintained in Washington DC…

In a case of first impression, Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that football players who are on scholarship at Northwestern University are “employees” of the school and eligible to vote whether they want to be represented by the Collegiate Athletes Players Association (CAPA), an entity financed by the United Steelworkers…

The National Labor Relations Board has the power to set aside a representation election if certain behavior by the parties warrants that action. When there is deliberate misrepresentation by the union or the employer about the material facts and the other party has no opportunity to reply, the election will be set aside. The reason…