American Society of Employers
Whitmer Prepared to Sign Legislation Re-initiating Compulsive Union Membership on Home Care Workers

8 October 2024

Whitmer Prepared to Sign Legislation Re-initiating Compulsive Union Membership on Home Care Workers

Author: Michael Burns

Several years ago, Michigan corrected a labor wrong by removing a requirement that home care givers under Michigan’s Medicaid program be in a union. Many of these workers who had to pay union dues were family members receiving a stipend for providing those care services to people in their own family.

Is Labor Making Any Headway Coming Back?

3 September 2024

Is Labor Making Any Headway Coming Back?

Author: Michael Burns

Another Labor Day has come and gone.  This weekend is set aside to celebrate our workers and typically unions.  For decades each Labor Day we have heard that the tide has turned, and unions are coming back.  Over the past few years, union activism and activity have “popped.” But what has resulted from this recent uptick in union activity?

DOL May Require New Reporting of Money Paid to Employer’s Own Staff

30 July 2024

DOL May Require New Reporting of Money Paid to Employer’s Own Staff

Author: Michael Burns

Employers that hire outside consultants to help persuade workers to stay union free are required to file reports of this expenditure to the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) each year stating so. This is nothing new. Employers file an LM-10 within 90 days of the end of the employer’s fiscal year. The outside consultants also have to file two forms. One must be filed within 90 days from the end of the consultant’s fiscal year and another form...
Cost of Unionization

4 June 2024

Cost of Unionization

Author: Michael Burns

Did you know that the costs for being unionized are far more than just increased wages and benefits?

A 2003 Employment Policy Foundation study found that a company with 10% of its workforce in a union could experience 2.6% higher unit labor costs and a 21% lower before-tax profit than its non-union counterparts.

UAW Loses Mercedes-Benz Unionization Election

21 May 2024

UAW Loses Mercedes-Benz Unionization Election

Author: Michael Burns

Last week workers at the Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuskaloosa, Alabama voted down unionization by the United Auto Workers (UAW). The unofficial vote count was 2642 votes against vs. 2045 votes for the union. This came about a month after the UAW won its election at the Volkswagen (VW) plant further north in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There the UAW won 2628 votes for the union vs. 985 against the union.

For NLRB Purposes, What is Concerted Activity?

16 April 2024

For NLRB Purposes, What is Concerted Activity?

Author: Anthony Kaylin

Although many nonunion employers do not see the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as impacting them, they are often surprised when an unfair labor practice charge (ULP) is issued against them.  These employers think the NLRB only protects union activity, but that’s not the case.  The NLRB protects all workers’ rights in the workplace and is the de facto union for nonunion workers.  Although in the past, ULPs have been fairly rare, they are rising today as...
Here We Go Again – Are College Athletes Able to Organize?

26 March 2024

Here We Go Again – Are College Athletes Able to Organize?

Author: Anthony Kaylin

In the midst of the NCAA March Madness, a distraction is taking place.   A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled last month that members of the Dartmouth men's basketball team are employees of the school. This ruling will allow the basketball team to organize under the NLRB rules, and they decided to join Service Employees International Union (SEIU). 

NLRB’s Joint Employer Rule Stayed

12 March 2024

NLRB’s Joint Employer Rule Stayed

Author: Michael Burns

Last Friday a federal judge struck down the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regulations expanding its control over the job terms and conditions it uses to determine whether two employers are in fact one for the purposes of labor law application. The Joint Employer rule was supposed to take effect Monday (March 11th) from a previous court stay, but the Texas federal judge hearing the case vacated that decision and held the regulations were too far reaching in their scope for a federal...
NLRB Board Overrules its Administrative Judges to Hold in Favor of Over-riding Dress Rules for Worker BLM-Wear

27 February 2024

NLRB Board Overrules its Administrative Judges to Hold in Favor of Over-riding Dress Rules for Worker BLM-Wear

Author: Michael Burns

Should workers violating a company dress code policy be protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) if they are wearing or displaying political slogans on their uniforms protesting for an issue unrelated to their work?

NLRB Holds That Union Engaged in Union Busting Against Its Own Workers

20 February 2024

NLRB Holds That Union Engaged in Union Busting Against Its Own Workers

Author: Michael Burns

In the category of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander we have the pro-union National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently finding the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union engaged in a myriad of unfair labor practices with its own unionized staff who are members of FAIR. (Yes, unions have unions.)

NLRB’s Cemex Pro-union Standard Challenged in Court

13 February 2024

NLRB’s Cemex Pro-union Standard Challenged in Court

Author: Michael Burns

Cemex Construction is challenging the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) “radical change” which would allow the NLRB to bypass an organizing election and order bargaining if it finds the employer engaged in an unfair labor practice during the campaign. It also extended the rules for requiring union election if the union demands recognition. Before this decision, an employer was not required to recognize a union and the union was the one that had to demand an election....
BLS Reports 2023 Union Membership Down… Again

30 January 2024

BLS Reports 2023 Union Membership Down… Again

Author: Michael Burns

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported union membership continued to decline in 2023. The BLS reported that private sector union membership increased by 191,000 members during the year. Union representation was 11.2% of workers in 2023 down from 11.3% in 2022.

Non-union Employers Should Be Preparing for 2024

2 January 2024

Non-union Employers Should Be Preparing for 2024

Author: Michael Burns

As we closed out 2023, unions continued to win recognition elections at a rate of almost 75%. In 2023 this percentage is from 1,316 certification elections run nationally. This included an overall win rate in September, 2023 of 91%. This win rate was for recognition certification elections – also called RC elections.

Expect Union Organizing to be Speedy in 2024

2 January 2024

Expect Union Organizing to be Speedy in 2024

Author: Anthony Kaylin

On December 26, 2023, representation case procedures changed under a rule published in August 2023 by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”).  Essentially, the rule is reimplementing the 2014 Obama era “Quickie Election” rules.  

Employers Brace for Impact After UAW Wins

19 December 2023

Employers Brace for Impact After UAW Wins

Author: Kevin Marrs

Labor contracts of large employers can significantly impact smaller related employers through a series of economic forces. One primary mechanism is the influence of wage and benefit standards set by major corporations within a specific industry. When large companies establish high standards in their labor contracts, it creates a benchmark that smaller employers often feel compelled to meet to attract and retain skilled and experienced workers.

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