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NLRB General Counsel Continues Attacks on Employer Policies

21 March 2023

NLRB General Counsel Continues Attacks on Employer Policies

Author: Michael Burns

Most employer handbooks have a policy addressing solicitations at work. One major purpose of a no solicitation policy is to prevent union organizing on an employer’s premises. Union organizers want easy access to employees and where better to reach them?

Right to Work Repeal Passes in Michigan Legislature – Goes to Governor for Signature

14 March 2023

Right to Work Repeal Passes in Michigan Legislature – Goes to Governor for Signature

Author: Michael Burns

Michigan’s Legislature moved quickly to repeal Michigan’s 10-year-old Right to Work law. Right to Work allows private sector union members to opt out of union dues payment should they disagree with the services rendered, the political position their union takes, or any other reason the union member may have for deciding the union has not earned their support. Right to Work gives thousands of Michigan union workers leverage to hold their unions accountable.
Failing Union Pension Funds Getting Huge Influx of Money from PBGC

7 February 2023

Failing Union Pension Funds Getting Huge Influx of Money from PBGC

Author: Michael Burns

Fans of mafia cinema know the movie Casino follows the mob’s latter-day activities in Las Vegas and how they funded their Las Vegas investments through loans from various unions in the 1960’s and 70’s – a fact used by the moviemakers to show the mafia-labor union corruption back in the day. The Teamsters' connections to the mafia include Teamsters Presidents Frank Fitzimmons and of course Jimmy Hoffa leading the way. One subplot in the movie Casino was based on...
Can an Employee Resource Group (ERG) Lead to Labor Issues?

31 January 2023

Can an Employee Resource Group (ERG) Lead to Labor Issues?

Author: Anthony Kaylin

Affinity Groups, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), and the like are hallmarks of diversity programs.  Specifically, ERGs could consist of a variety of identities from African American, Hispanic, disabled, women, LGBTQ, and more.  90% of Fortune 500 companies have been reported to have at least one.  Those who participate in ERGs believe they help move the needle with equality and inclusion in their workplaces.  

Union Membership Drops to 10.1% of the U.S. Workforce in 2022

24 January 2023

Union Membership Drops to 10.1% of the U.S. Workforce in 2022

Author: Michael Burns

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that union membership continues its over 40-year decline. Union membership in 2022 declined to 10.1% of U.S. workforce down from 10.3% in 2021. That said, total union membership rose by 273,000 to about 14.3 million workers. But, because of the number of U.S. wage and salary workers (most non-union) grew by 5.3 million workers the reported union membership as a percentage of that total workforce continued to show a decline.

Michigan Democrats Eye Repeal of Right to Work

3 January 2023

Michigan Democrats Eye Repeal of Right to Work

Author: Michael Burns

With the Michigan Democratic party taking control of both sides of the Michigan Legislature this past fall, Democrat Legislators began calling for repeal of Michigan’s Right to Work law.

NLRB Takes Aim at All Employer Electronic Monitoring Regardless of Business Purpose

8 November 2022

NLRB Takes Aim at All Employer Electronic Monitoring Regardless of Business Purpose

Author: Michael Burns

Employers can use a number of different methods of electronic monitoring in the workplace ostensibly to improve productivity and ensure security of the business. These methods can be:

Understanding the Crazy Logic of the National Labor Relations Board

18 October 2022

Understanding the Crazy Logic of the National Labor Relations Board

Author: Michael Burns

Imagine, if you will, an employee calling the owner of the employing company a derogatory term to their face. The employer understandably fires the employee only to have the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) order the employer to reinstate the employee.

Weingarten Rights Refresher for the Non-Union Employer

27 September 2022

Weingarten Rights Refresher for the Non-Union Employer

Author: Michael Burns

As many EPTW readers know, ASE is reporting on the activities of the pro-labor National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as they change their policy and case decisions tilting the labor playing field in favor of unions and their ability to organize employers.  At the end of July this year, the NLRB released an advice memorandum stating that it was evaluating whether to extend what are called Weingarten rights to non-union workers.

National Labor Relations Board Restricts Employer Dress Code Practices

13 September 2022

National Labor Relations Board Restricts Employer Dress Code Practices

Author: Michael Burns

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued it first precedent-shifting decision of the Biden Administration on August 29th. Tesla, Inc. (2021). While there has been a lot of conjecture that this NLRB will make some big pro-labor changes when they get the chance, so far it has been more talk and memos than formal decisions – until now.  

Organized Labor’s Resurgence?

30 August 2022

Organized Labor’s Resurgence?

Author: Michael Burns

As we approach Labor Day 2022, the media (and most likely the Biden Administration) will be heralding organized labor’s resurgence as it has done at this time of the year for decades.  Jarret Skorup’s Labor Unions Are Not in a “Resurgence” points out the media’s annual labor-fest prognostication with a short listing by year of articles announcing labor’s alleged comebacks heralded over two decades.

Employers Fight NLRB’s Attempt to Silence Management Meetings

23 August 2022

Employers Fight NLRB’s Attempt to Silence Management Meetings

Author: Anthony Kaylin

2022 is a banner year for union organizing.  1,411 U.S. workplaces filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data, which represents a 69% increase from the same period in 2021 and the most of any year since 2015.  Yet only 10.3% of workers were in unions, down from 29.3% in 1964 according to studies.  Of the 1,411 workplaces filing petitions filed, about 400, representing more than 21,000 workers, have...
U.S. Department of Labor Publishes Report on Conditions for Worker Union Organizing

21 June 2022

U.S. Department of Labor Publishes Report on Conditions for Worker Union Organizing

Author: Michael Burns

As ASE has previously reported, worker union organizing is getting a lot of attention across the country. A recent study by the Worker Empowerment Research Network (WERN) that is collaborating with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), highlights what union conditions are usually present in the workplace for conditions to be right for organizing. This information also provides employers valuable insight into how they can avoid allowing those conditions to develop in their workplace.
NLRB Continues to Review and Challenge Employer Policies

14 June 2022

NLRB Continues to Review and Challenge Employer Policies

Author: Michael Burns

The Biden Administration’s pro-labor policies are being heavily pushed by the agency responsible for overseeing employee and employer labor rights, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB is governed by the law that it is charged with interpreting and administering. This is of course the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

NLRB Rehire Rulings Based Upon Labor Law Pushes Paradox with EEOC Anti-Discrimination Law

24 May 2022

NLRB Rehire Rulings Based Upon Labor Law Pushes Paradox with EEOC Anti-Discrimination Law

Author: Michael Burns

A fascinating conflict between the National Labor Relations Act labor rights interpretation and the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII anti-discrimination protections is growing. Some federal lawmakers are criticizing the National Labor Relations Board for its recent decision that undermined Amazon, the large online retailer, by forcing them to reinstate a worker that was fired because of his crude, sexist, degrading statements made to a female coworker during the organizing campaign.

NLRB Seeks to Remove Employer Option of Elections to Unionize

3 May 2022

NLRB Seeks to Remove Employer Option of Elections to Unionize

Author: Michael Burns

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is working to take out the impediment of organizing elections to further its pro-labor agenda. Holding a secret ballot election is a fundamental step under the National Labor Relations Act in determining whether workers want a union or not.

NLRB Says: Anti-Employer Speech – No Problem; Union-Free Speech – Big Problem

12 April 2022

NLRB Says: Anti-Employer Speech – No Problem; Union-Free Speech – Big Problem

Author: Michael Burns

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a former Special Counsel for the Communications Workers of America union and now the NLRB’s top prosecutor, issued a memo (Memorandum 22-4) to its District Offices last week intended to make it illegal for employers to hold meetings or even meet one-on-one with their employees to discuss union versus union-free in their own workplaces.

Biden’s State of the Union Address Points Out Several Employment Legislative Initiatives

8 March 2022

Biden’s State of the Union Address Points Out Several Employment Legislative Initiatives

Author: Michael Burns

In last week’s State of the Union address by President Biden, in addition to his opening focus on the Russian invasion he pointed out four legislative initiatives that he would like to see moved along in the coming months – probably before the mid-term elections if he had his way.

NLRB Continues its Assault Against Employer Policies/Rules

1 March 2022

NLRB Continues its Assault Against Employer Policies/Rules

Author: Michael Burns

The National Labor Relations Act protects workers' rights to engage in activities intended to allow them to organize into a union. Therefore, most communications intended by workers to support labor organizing are considered protected concerted activity.

President’s Report Recommends Extensive Pro Union Changes to Labor Regulation and Government Practices

15 February 2022

President’s Report Recommends Extensive Pro Union Changes to Labor Regulation and Government Practices

Author: Michael Burns

Biden’s pro-labor agenda continues to roll. In its next step to promote union membership growth, the Biden Administration issued its report outlining necessary legal and regulatory actions to promote union organizing. This report contains 70 recommendations that may be implemented to facilitate the growth of union membership across the U.S.

Biden Orders No Non-union Companies on Federal Government Construction Projects

8 February 2022

Biden Orders No Non-union Companies on Federal Government Construction Projects

Author: Michael Burns

Last weekend President Biden announced a new Executive Order barring non-union construction firms and workers from federal construction projects over $35,000,000. This is just the latest pro union move for the self-proclaimed “most pro-union President in U.S. history.”

National Union Membership Continues its Decline

1 February 2022

National Union Membership Continues its Decline

Author: Michael Burns

In case you missed it, last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its union membership data for 2021. Union membership declined by 241,000 to 14,000,000 union members. Total U.S. union membership as a percentage of the workforce declined from 10.8% to 10.3%.

National Labor Relations Board to Challenge Employer Work Rules Standard

11 January 2022

National Labor Relations Board to Challenge Employer Work Rules Standard

Author: Michael Burns

Since 2017 the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reviewed employer work rules (union and non-union) under its standard adopted in the Boeing Company case and a subsequent case with additional revisions adopted in its LA Specialty Produce Co. case in 2019.
Build Back Better Bill Contains Penalties for Union-Free Communications or Actions

14 December 2021

Build Back Better Bill Contains Penalties for Union-Free Communications or Actions

Author: Michael Burns

Two major facts are coming out from the Biden Administration’s massive Build Back Better legislation. It is so big it is hard to understand everything it addresses. It is also so big it contains some very pro-labor provisions intended to gag employers’ union-free communications. 
Watch Out Nonunion Employers:  NLRB is Again Out to Get You

21 September 2021

Watch Out Nonunion Employers: NLRB is Again Out to Get You

Author: Anthony Kaylin

After four years under a republican administration, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is now shifting back to the priorities of the Obama Administration.  Unionization is favored, and the NLRB will be pushing the envelope to expand the traditional boundaries of the NLRB.  NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, has issued her first memo—Mandatory Submissions to Advice Memorandum (GC 21-04), which lays out a clear agenda as to the priorities of the Office...
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