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…

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is launching a digital ad campaign urging customers of Spectrum to “cut the cord on Spectrum.” The campaign has the backing of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) who signed a pledge with other politicians to boycott Spectrum and it’s New York news network, Spectrum News NY1. The workers went on strike nearly 2…

In labor law, a “contract bar” generally states that no petition to get rid of a union may be filed during the existence of a valid collective bargaining agreement. Sounds straight forward. There must be an actual contract, signed by both parties. But what happens if there is a signed, valid contract but the effective dates of the…

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,…

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…

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…