Employers are Allowed to Give Opinions about Unions

Section 8(c) Gives Employers a Voice: Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act generally allows employers to express their opinions – even negative opinions – regarding unions (so long as those opinions contain neither a threat nor promise). In Trinity Services Group, Inc. 998 F.3d 978 (D.C. Cir. 2021), the DC Circuit considered whether Section 8(c) protects…
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Decertificatoin of Forced Dues Paying Employees Delayed by Bogus Election Lists

Minnesota Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton received thousands of signatures from union members seeking to end one of the largest bargaining units in history. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) formed the bargaining unit in 2014 after claiming to have organized 27,000 people who are registered as Personal Care Assistants. The PCAs were not traditional employees,…
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There is an Art to Decertifying Unions and This Company Should Learn It

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try (and since you failed on your third try, you’ll have to) try again. Here, a majority of employees filed a decertification petition in 2009. That petition failed. The employees tried again in 2011. That petition failed, too, because the Company unlawfully assisted the decertification. On the third…
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Unionized Companies Mistakenly Believe No More Union Means No More Pension Plan

Employers often assume that when their employees decertify a union, that every obligation an employer had under the collective bargaining agreement disappears. They are wrong. In 2013, employees in three separate bargaining units (all with the International Union of Operating Engineers) of one Company voted to decertify. At that time, the Union and Company were…
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Decertification Petition Shouldn’t Be Processed Even After “Reasonable Period” Passed

When employers voluntarily recognize a union, a “recognition bar” prohibits employees from challenging the union’s status as their representative for a “reasonable period” of time. This “reasonable period” begins on the date of the first bargaining meeting between the union and the employer and lasts for six to twelve months. Americold Logistics LLC agreed to…
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