More Temporary Workers Coming to a Union Near You

The Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 petitioned the NLRB to represent employees employed solely by Miller & Anderson, temporary employees employed solely by Tradesmen International, and temporary employees employed jointly by Miller & Anderson and Tradesmen International.

Under Board law in Oakwood Care Center, the unit combining temporary employees and regular employees of a sole employer and a joint employer is appropriate only if the employers all consent to a multi-employer bargaining unit.

The Miller & Anderson and Tradesmen International employees did not consent to having an election in a multi-employer voting unit or to multi-employer bargaining if the union won the election. Based on Oakwood Care Center, the NLRB Regional Director dismissed the petition. The union brought its petition to the NLRB for review, and the Board has granted the union’s request to reexamine Oakwood Care Center.

The union doesn’t like the current Board rule in Oakwood Care Center because it impedes a union’s ability to organize workers. The union would rather the Board return to the former version of the law in M.B. Sturgis where the Board prohibited separating regular employees from temporary employees.

If the NLRB overturns Oakwood Care Center, then it will be yet another effort by the Board to connect separate, independent businesses through bargaining similar to what the Board has done in its attempted reformation of the joint employer standard.

Matt Austin is a lawyer based in the Columbus, Ohio office of Roetzel & Andress, LPA who limits his practice to representing employers dealing with labor, employment, and OSHA matters. You can call Matt at (614) 723-2010 or email him at maustin@ralaw.com.