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| Editorial staffers at Salon Media, Inc. announced plans to select the Writers Guild East (WGAE) as their collective bargaining representative. All 26 writers and editors also urged Salon to voluntary recognize WGAE as their representative. The announcement comes just weeks after editorial staffers at Gawker Media LLC voted 80-27 for representation by the WGAE. |
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| In a near-unanimous decision, Airway Cleaners LLC workers at John F. Kennedy International Airport chose Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ as their union representative. The election was ordered by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) director after the Board previously ruled that the Railway Labor Act does not cover Airway workers. The United Workers of America (UWA) Local 660, which also vied to be the workers’ representative, is still mulling an appeal of the Board’s election order. |
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| Eighty-eight port truck drivers at Eco Flow Transportation LLC unanimously voted in favor of representation by International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters) Local 848. Unlike others in the industry, the California-based company classifies its drivers as employees, rather than independent contractors |
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| About 350 health care workers at Unity Hospital in Fridley, Minn. voted, by a 60-40 percent margin, in favor of union representation by SEIU-Healthcare Minnesota. |
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| Barnard College and Barnard Contingent Faculty-UAW Local 2110 (BCF-UAW) entered into a neutrality and representation election agreement under which Barnard will refrain from advising its 200-plus contingent faculty members on how they should vote. The election is scheduled to take place September 14 to October 1. |
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| The International Association of Machinists (IAM) opened an organizing office in Mobile, Ala., with the intent of unionizing workers at a new Airbus production plant. Production at the plant will begin later this summer and it is expected that the plant will employ about 1,000 workers by 2018. |
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| After an 11-year battle, Point Part University in Pittsburgh has chosen to recognize its full-time faculty’s right to union representation. The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh Local 38061, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), won a 2004 representation election. The parties are expected to begin negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. |
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| More than 1,100 registered nurses at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center will be represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA). CNA defeated the rival United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC) in a 696-305 vote. |
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| The Teamsters filed a petition requesting an election to represent warehouse and shipping employees of Adecco, a third-party contractor for Google Express Service. The Teamsters seek to organize the 140 workers with the intent of gaining wage increases and “improving working conditions” and “treatment on the job.” |
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| Following the expiration of their collective bargaining agreement with a trade organization of contractors called the Cement League, concrete workers walked off their jobs at an estimated 30 job sites throughout New York City. The workers belong to the union collective New York City District Council of Carpenters. |
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| Following stalled contract negotiations and a failed mediation attempt, approximately 750 Milwaukee County Transit System bus drivers began striking. The drivers are seeking wage increases and a cap on the hiring of part-time drivers. The striking drivers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998. |
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| Approximately 30 members and supporters of United Auto Workers (UAW) marched to Hyundai’s Fountain Valley, Calif. headquarters in protest of low wages and unsafe working conditions. The march was in coordination with 23 other protests at dealerships across the country. |
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| President Obama appointed a presidential emergency board to resolve a bargaining dispute between a coalition of 17 unions and New Jersey Transit. The parties are barred from engaging in a strike or lockout for 120 days. A panel of three arbitrators will investigate and make nonbinding recommendations for a new collective bargaining agreement within 30 days. |
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| After working without a contract for a year-and-a-half, and no closer to settlement, 80 concrete delivery workers represented by Teamsters Local 50 went on strike in Swansea, Ill. The union also filed undisclosed unfair labor practice charges against two companies. |
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| About 60 short-haul drivers working the ports of Los Angeles and Long BeachCalif., for Pacific 9 Transportation, Inc. began an indefinite strike. The Teamsters, which has unsuccessfully tried to organize the drivers, state that the strike is in response to the company’s continued misclassification of them as independent contractors. This is the seventh strike by shorthaul drivers at these ports in two years. |
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| Workers at New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports called off a planned strike, which they had unanimously authorized, after Aviation Safeguards, an airline contractor, agreed to allow SEIU Local 32BJ to begin an organizing drive among the nearly 1,200 employees. |
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| An analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg BNA through the first half of 2015 shows that the average first-year wage increase was 2.7 percent, compared with 1.9 percent in the first half of 2014. The analysis is based on 322 collective bargaining agreements covering more than 440,000 employees. The median first-year wage increase for settlements reported to date in 2015 was 2.2 percent, compared with 2 percent, and the weighted average was 3.5 percent, compared with 2.6 percent reported in 2014. When lump-sum payments were factored into wage calculations, the all-settlements average first-year increase to date in 2015 was 2.9 percent, compared with 2.3 percent reported in the year-ago period. Median and weighted average increases were 2.4 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, compared to the 2 and 3 percent increases reported in 2014. The all-settlements (excluding construction and state and local government) average increase was 3.6 percent, compared with 2.9 percent in 2014; the median was 2.8 percent, compared with 2.7 percent; and the weighted average was 4.5 percent, compared with last year’s 3.1 percent. |
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| According to Labour Canada statistics, collective bargaining agreements reached in May resulted in average wage increases of 1.6 percent. The May average is less than the average posted in the first quarter of 2015, and less than the average for 2014 as a whole. On a sectoral basis, the largest average wage growth was in wholesale and retail trade. The May figures are based on 11 collective bargaining agreements covering 31,890 employees. |
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| Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) and Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees agreed to extend a current collective bargaining agreement through September 30, 2015 . The parties have yet to reach some type of settlement, and Gov. Rauner vetoed a bill that would have mandated the state and the union to undergo mediation and then binding arbitration. Council 31 represents about 40,000 state employees. |
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| Members of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (GE) and the International Union of Electronic Workers, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) ratified two four-year agreements with General Electric that cover 12,780 employees. The contracts include: a $2,000 ratification bonus; four lump-sum bonuses totaling $8,000; a 60 cent wage increase; improved pension benefits resulting in employee savings of $600 annually; and an increase in health care premiums. GE also agreed to expand the benefits of its educational loan program, increase the reimbursement maximum for adoptions costs, and not to make any proposals freezing pension benefits until the next bargaining phase. The agreements are retroactive to June and expire in June 2019. |
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| Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), representing about 1,200 nurses and health care workers, reached an agreement with CarePoint Health Hospitals in Jersey City. The three-year contract, ratified by 90 percent of HPAE members, calls for 6.5 percent wage increases, improved nurse scheduling, and caps on health insurance costs. The agreement follows tense negotiations, which included picketing and the filing of unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. |
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| Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556 and Southwest Airlines Co. reached a four-year tentative collective bargaining agreement covering nearly 11,800 flight attendants. Details of the agreement are not being released pending ratification. |
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| The Animation Guild, representing more than 3,000 employees, reached an agreement in principle with a group of Hollywood producers. The three-year collective bargaining agreement calls for a stay in the health care plan, a 3 percent annual compounded wage hike, and a 10 percent increase in pension contributions. The agreement also requires that its terms be applied to new media employees who work on productions distributed over the Internet. The agreement is set to take effect August 1, 2015 and will expire on July 31, 2018. |
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| Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 47 ratified two three-year contracts covering 4,020 workers. The first agreement, which was ratified with 86 percent of the vote, covers compensation and working conditions and provides a 9.5 percent wage increase over three years, a $1,500 ratification bonus, and a $750 tool bonus. The second agreement, which was ratified by more than 89 percent of workers, covers general employee benefits. The contracts are retroactive to January 1, 2016 and expire December 31, 2017. |
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| By a 97-19 margin, members of TWU Local 100 ratified a collective bargaining agreement with Motivate International Inc., which runs bike share programs. The agreement covers 191 Citi Bike mechanics, technicians, drivers, call center agents, and balancers in New York City. The agreement provides: a 20 percent wage increase over four-and-a-half years, with an immediate 10 percent raise; a 30-day notice for work schedules; a six-member workers’ council; eight weeks of paid parental leave; eight paid holidays; five days of paid sick leave; a minimum of 10 days of paid leave; and health, dental, vision, 401(k) and life insurance plans. The agreement is the first of its kind for bike share workers and will be used as a template for workers in Washington D.C., Boston, and Chicago, who all are currently engaged in contract negotiations. |
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| Members of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia Local 38010, an affiliate of CWA, ratified, voting 259-12, two two-year contracts with the Philadelphia Media Network, which publishes the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily, and Philly.com. The two agreements, which cover about 500 workers, feature a 100 percent increase in severance pay, a freeze on employee health care contributions, the creation of a buyout program, and the end of annual required two-week furloughs, allowing workers to be paid 52 weeks per year. The agreement for Philly.com workers, which was approved by a 31-1 margin, also includes an annual wage hike for junior employees. |
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| Members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Mesa Airlines Inc. reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement covering nearly 1,100 pilots. Details of the agreement are not being released pending further union review. |
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| In an unanimous decision, SEIU Local 32BJ members ratified a four-year contract with the Washington Service Contractors Association. Under the agreement, workers will receive a $2 wage increase over four years, paid leave for vacations, holidays and illness, one paid day for training per year, and free access to the union’s legal services fund. Full-time workers will maintain employer-paid health care benefits, while part-time workers will receive life insurance and limited dental benefits—a reduction compared to the previous contract, which provided full dental and vision benefits. However, the agreement will create up to 700 full-time positions. The agreement, which covers 10,200 commercial office cleaners and 30 cleaning companies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, takes effect in October and expires October 2019. |
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| In a near-unanimous vote, nurses at three Providence Health and Services hospitals in the Los Angeles areas, ratified new collective bargaining agreements. The agreements, which range in length from two-and-a-half to four years, cover 1,600 nurses and provide wage increases ranging from 9.5 percent to 22 percent. California Nurses Association-National Nurses United represented nurses. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a NLRB decision ordering a tribal casino to cease and desist NLRA violations and to reinstate an employee who was terminated for union solicitation. The tribe argued that it has the sovereign right to control the terms of employment with nonmember employees at the casino, but the court noted it was bound by Little River, which held the NLRA to be applicable to a tribal casino because the Act did not undermine "tribal self-governance in purely intramural matters,” there was no evidence that the law was not intended to apply to tribes, and application of the Act would not violate any treaty. The court found that the tribe did not satisfy any of these exceptions to restrictions on tribal sovereignty and ruled that the NLRB has jurisdiction over the casino. Soaring Eye Casino and Resort v. NLRB. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the Board’s cross-petition for enforcement of an order finding that a California pediatric hospital violated Section 8(a)(5) by refusing to arbitrate outstanding employee grievances with a decertified union. According to the court, although Section 8(a)(5) requires employers to arbitrate grievances with a union even after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, Section 9(a) requires employers to exclusively bargain with a newly certified union. Consequently, the Act "does not identify where the duty to resolve unfinished business with the old union ends and the duty to bargain exclusively with the new union begins.” The court found that the Board failed to consider this conflict in its decision and remanded the case for additional proceedings so that the Board could engage in further statutory interpretation. Children’s Hosp. & Research Ctr. of Oakland. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a NLRB decision holding that AT&T violated Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA by prohibiting employees from wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the words “inmate” and “prisoner of AT$T” and disciplining those employees who failed to comply with its directive. The t-shirts were provided by the CWA, as a part of its public-relations campaign during negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. Citing Republic Aviation Corp. v. NLRB, the court first explained that “courts have long-recognized that the NLRA rights of employees to display union messages may be restricted if ‘special circumstances’ justify a limitation.” Then quoting the Board’s Bell-Atlantic-Pennsylvania Inc. decision, the court said that an “employer’s concern about the ‘public image’ presented by the apparel of its employees is … a legitimate component of the ‘special circumstances’ standard.” The court went on to find that the Board should have applied “special circumstances” here as AT&T could reasonably believe that the t-shirt’s message could harm its relationship with its customers or its public image. S. New England Tel. Co. v. NLRB. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated and remanded a NLRB decision holding a Las Vegas casino’s request to the police constituted an unfair labor practice. Two unions requested and received a permit, over the Venetian’s objections, to hold a demonstration protesting the casino’s lack of a collective bargaining agreement. During the demonstration, the Venetian played a recorded message stating demonstrators could be arrested for trespass and also asked the police to issue criminal citations to the demonstrators. In a prior proceeding, the court affirmed the Board’s ruling that the demonstration was protected by the Act and remanded the case to the Board to determine whether the casino’s request to the police was a petition protected by the First Amendment under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. On remand, the Board found that the police request was not a direct petition to the government as it was not a petition seeking “the passage of a law or rule, or a significant policy decision regarding enforcement” and therefore was not protected. Relying on Allied Tube, the court reversed, holding that “the act of summoning the police to enforce state trespass law is a direct petition to government subject to protection” under the doctrine. The court however remanded the case so that the Board could determine whether the casino’s request was a “sham petition,” thereby excluding it from the doctrine’s protection. Venetian Casino Resort, LLC v. NLRB. |
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| The D.C. Circuit ordered the NLRB to reconsider its unilateral approval of a settlement requiring Northeastern Land Services, a temporary employment agency, to reinstate a wrongfully terminated employee and provide him with backpay and accrued interest. The NLRB had ordered Northeastern to offer the employee his former position or, if that no longer existed, a “substantially equivalent” position and to make the employee “whole” for any earnings loss as a result of his discharge. Northeastern and the Board subsequently reached a settlement under which Northeastern would pay the employee $201,000 in monthly payments over 11 years, and offer him a substantially equivalent job. The Board unilaterally approved the settlement terms over the employee’s objections and the employee appealed. First, rejecting the Board’s contention that it could only examine whether the Board abused its discretion, the court explained that because the order was enforced by an appellate court, the Board was obligated to “apply the correct legal standards, ground its factual findings in substantial evidence, and give reasoned explanations for any departure from precedent on the scope of its post-enforcement authority to alter court orders.” The court then found that here, the Board failed to offer any explanation as to why it waived the employee’s right to more than $41,000 in interest payments and as to its conclusion that Northeastern complied with its order by offering reinstatement to a substantially equivalent position, making remand necessary. Dupuy v. NLRB. |
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| The D.C. Circuit upheld a Board decision finding that a Virginia hospital violated the NLRA by discharging, disciplining, and failing to promote three nurses who engaged in protected concerted activity. The court found that there was substantial evidence to support the Board’s finding that the hospital terminated one nurse for criticizing a nursing fellowship program. The Board found that the nurse’s concerns “directly impacted” nurses as the program touched upon their hours and working conditions and that the hospital’s decision was motivated by animus over the complaint. The Board also found that the hospital wrongfully disciplined another nurse who protested the discharged nurse’s treatment. Finally, the Board concluded that the hospital wrongfully denied a third nurse a promotion based on her comments about after-hours surgical assignments, explaining that her comments did not amount to advocating a strike. INOVA Health Sys. v. NLRB. |
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| The Michigan Supreme Court held, 4-3, that the state’s right-to-work law, which prohibits employers and unions from requiring union dues or agency fees as a condition of employment, applies to state government workers. The majority found that the state Civil Service Commission did not have the “constitutional authority” to force employees to pay fees and dues as it lacks the power to “tax or appropriate.” The dissent argued that the dues in question are not a “tax or appropriation” because they are paid directly to the union or agency and would have held that a collective bargaining agreement imposing such a fee would control and not any legislative rule. Auto Workers v. Green. |
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| A U.S. District judge for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment for the NLRB in an action brought by the U.S. Chamber of Congress claiming that a number of features of the so-called “ambush election rules” violate precedent or legislative history under the NLRA, violate the Constitution, and are the result of “arbitrary and capricious rulemaking.” In so holding, the court labeled plaintiffs’ objections as “a disagreement with choices made by the agency entrusted by Congress with broad discretion to implement the provisions of the NLRA and to craft appropriate procedures.” The court concluded the Board acted properly in enacting the new rule and that the rule did not run afoul of the constitution or the NLRA. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas also dismissed challenges against the rule on similar grounds. U.S. Chamber of Commerce et al v. National Labor Relations Board. |
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| The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the NLRB’s request for a preliminary injunction, ordering two supermarkets to recognize and bargain with UFCW Local 464A. The court found that there was sufficient evidence, namely the overlap of staff and commingling of funds, to establish reasonable cause to believe the companies are alter egos. Leach v. Oliva Supermarkets LLC. |
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| A U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware judge held that UNITE HERE Local 54’s boycott of the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J. does not violate the “automatic stay” provisions of bankruptcy code, thus allowing the boycott to continue. The judge held that the union’s actions, which included encouraging organizations to cancel their events at the casino, were protected by the Norris-LaGuardia Act. The judge also found the bankruptcy code inapplicable because the union did not seek to obtain control of the casino’s property and was merely trying to pressure the casino in new contract negotiations. Local 54, which represents 11,000 workers at the casino, began boycotting in response to the judge’s earlier decision allowing the casino to change certain provisions of their collective bargaining agreement. In re Trump Entm’t Resorts, Inc. |
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| A U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California granted the NLRB’s petition for a preliminary injunction barring a grocery store chain from imposing unilateral changes in its vacation policy and terminating workers for engaging in protected activity. The chain allegedly discharged an active union supporter and changed its vacation policy in response to employee protests about unfair labor practices. In granting the injunction, the court also ordered the chain to offer reinstatement to the terminated employee. Pate v. Bodega Latina Corp. |
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| A divided NLRB panel upheld a regional director’s ruling that captains on a tugboat were not supervisors under the NLRA. The majority found that the captains neither exercised any supervisory assignment authority nor independent judgment in their routine decisions. Disagreeing, the dissenting member argued that the captains were ultimately responsible for all decisions made on the boat. The Board’s decision permits captains and deckhands to vote in a single bargaining unit. Cook Inlet Tug & Barge, Inc. |
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| A three-member NLRB panel ordered a new election after finding that a Virginia custodial contractor unlawfully provided benefits to employees prior to the election, tainting the results. The Board held that the company “failed to rebut the inference that its distribution of the bonus during the critical period was coercive by providing an explanation for the timing of the bonus” as required under United Airlines Service Corp. SMB Management Services and International Chemical Workers Union Council, UFCW. |
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| A split NLRB panel ruled that a Michigan hospital violated the NLRA by unilaterally imposing changes to the employee’s health care plan during the term of a collective bargaining agreement. The Board found that the agreement expressly denied the hospital the right to change the employees’ premium contributions and ordered that the hospital reimburse employees for all expenses resulting from it’s unfair labor practice. The dissenting member disagreed with the majority’s interpretation of the contract and would have deferred the matter to arbitration. Oakland Physicians Med. Ctr., LLC. |
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| A divided NLRB panel held that a New York restaurant violated the NLRA when it terminated an employee for filing a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) collective action on behalf of himself and his co-workers. The Board found the employee engaged in protected concerted activity by initiating the suit, even though a judge later dismissed the case because the employee failed to get the other employees’ consent. The dissenting member argued that the FLSA already prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file a complaint and therefore the employee’s remedy was under the FLSA and not the NLRA. 200 E. 81st Rest. Corp. |
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| A NLRB regional director dismissed a petition for a representation election filed by graduate assistants at the New School and Columbia University in New York City. It was the second time the graduate assistants, represented by a UAW affiliate, sought representation, and the second such time the regional director dismissed their petition. The regional director ruled that it was “constrained” by Brown University, a Board decision holding that graduate assistants are not employees under federal law. The graduate assistants will appeal the decision and seek to have the Board overrule its decision in Brown. The New School. |
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| Relying on Murphy Oil USA Inc. and D.R. Horton, Inc., an NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held that an opt-out arbitration policy waiving employees’ rights to file and maintain class actions violates the NLRA. Although the policy was not mandatory, the ALJ found that it was nonetheless unlawful because employees were not permitted to reconsider their decisions. The ALJ recommended that the company retract the arbitration agreements. AT&T Mobility Servs. LLC. |
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| An ALJ ruled that a New Jersey janitorial firm violated the NLRA by failing to hire union-represented employees and refusing to recognize and negotiate with the union. Eastern Essential Services (Eastern) took over cleaning contracts at three buildings and did not hire the incumbent employees, instead selecting employees via its “internal reference system.” The ALJ found that this decision was motivated by anti-union animus as the company disregarded the “obvious choice” of hiring experienced employees familiar with the buildings and recommended by the predecessor cleaning companies. The ALJ also found Eastern to be the legal successor of the predecessor companies and thus had a duty to bargain with the union and could not unilaterally impose new conditions on the incumbent workers without giving the union an opportunity to negotiate. The ALJ recommended that the Board order Eastern to negotiate with the union. E. Essential Servs., Inc. |
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| An ALJ held that a food services contractor supplying workers to Anderson University unlawfully interfered with a representation election by asking employees to consider the reaction of the university to unionization. The ALJ found that the company’s questions threatened workers with job loss and was not protected by Gissel, as the company lacked any knowledge “that would lead them to question the university’s willingness to tolerate unionization.” The ALJ recommended that the election be re-run. Compass Grp. USA, Inc. |
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| An ALJ ruled that Boeing Co. was obligated to provide the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), the union representing the company’s technical and engineering employees, information about Boeing’s plans to relocate work from the Puget Sound area. Boeing argued SPEEA had no right to information about “ideas written on napkins” that were not yet corporate decisions, but the ALJ found that the information sought was about “concrete” decisions. The ALJ noted that Boeing announced it would move 1,000 jobs to California shortly after telling the union that it was currently only studying relocation. According to the ALJ, it was clear that the company’s refusal to provide SPEEA with information was “simply semantic gamesmanship designed to keep the union in the dark about its plans.” The ALJ recommended the Board order Boeing to answer the union’s requests. |
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| An ALJ held that a paving company violated the NLRA when it terminated one employee and threatened to discharge another. The ALJ found that the company “provided shifting reasons” for the employee’s termination, which occurred two days after the employee engaged in concerted activity under Section 7 by complaining to the owner about a supervisor’s abusive behavior. The ALJ also found that the supervisor violated Section 8(a)(1) of the Act when he told another employee that he could quit in response to his complaints about treatment. According to the ALJ, “an employer’s invitation to quit in response to protected concerted activity is coercive” as it implicitly threatens discharge. The ALJ recommended that the Board order the terminated employee reinstatement with backpay. Bates Paving & Sealing, Inc. |
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| Relying on the nullified decision Alan Ritchey, Inc., an ALJ found that an employer violated Sections 8(a)(5) and 8(a)(1) by disciplining employees without providing notice to the a newly elected union. Alan Ritchey was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Noel Canning, which held that due to unconstitutional recess appointments, the Board lacked a proper quorum of three members. Although the ALJ acknowledged that Alan Ritchey was not valid precedent, he found the Board’s reasoning persuasive, and stated that it was likely the Board would ultimately adopt its previous decision. Kitsap Tenant Support Services, Inc. |
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| An ALJ ruled that a New York retailer did not commit an unfair labor practice by failing to add dues-checkoff and union security provisions to a collective bargaining agreement. The union claimed that the company’s repeated refusals to agree to its proposals violated the company’s duty to bargain. Rejecting the union’s argument, the ALJ noted that the company agreed on other subjects, including wage increases and grievance procedure, and that the company bargained in good faith, even if it did not reach agreement on all issues. Apogee Retail, NY, LLC. |
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| The NLRB filed a response urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a former Board attorney’s petition for certiorari. Don Firenze brought suit against the NLRB claiming the agency violated its collective bargaining agreement by giving him low performance evaluations and disciplining him, and violated his First Amendment rights by prohibiting him from disclosing his claims to the public. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed his claims. In its opposition, the NLRB argues that the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations statute does not permit breach of contract claims against public employers and that Firenze’s retirement makes his First Amendment claim moot. Don Firenze v. National Labor Relations Board. |
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| The NLRB is considering overturning its 2004 Oakwood Care Center decision, which holds that a main employer and staffing agency must approve of an election covering temporary workers and regular employees in order for the election to take place. If the Board reverses course, it would likely follow the standard set in the 2000 decision, M.B. Sturgis, which held that temporary workers provided by a staffing agency may be included with regular employees if they had a sufficient “community of interest.” The Board has requested amicus briefs on the matter. |
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| Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced legislation which would amend the NLRA to undo the so-called “ambush election” rule which took effect this past April. The rule limits the time between the filing of an election petition and a union election, and according to critics, deprives employers of an opportunity to share its views on unionization with employees. The bill would prohibit an election taking place less than 60 calendar days after a petition. It would also require a hearing officer to consider material factual issues, such as jurisdiction, statutory coverage, unit inclusion or exclusion, and eligibility, prior to an election. In addition, the bill would amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to require written authorization for a union to use collected dues for any purpose not directly related to collective bargaining or contract administration. |
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| The Senate has confirmed Allison Beck as the first female director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Beck previously served as acting director of the agency after a September nomination by President Obama and before that served as deputy director for four years. |
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| Nicholas Geale, Republican, became the new chair of the National Mediation Board. Geale has served as a Board member since his 2013 appointment. |
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| Joseph Dougherty, former business manager of Ironworkers Local 401 in Philadelphia, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for extortion, racketeering, and conspiracy charges. Dougherty directed so-called “good squads” to intimidate contractors to hire union members. According to his sentence, Dougherty must also pay $558,041 in restitution. |
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| The International Association of Machinists placed District Lodge 141 under supervision due to the local’s “inconsistent enforcement of collective bargaining agreements, membership servicing deficiencies, and the misapplication of contractual provisions.” District Lodge 141 represents mechanics, passenger service workers, and other employees at various airlines. |
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| The AFL-CIO Executive Council met with presidential candidates former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton (D), and former Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) during its annual summer meeting. According to AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, the meeting focused on “an agenda that helps working people achieve a better life” and discussed trade issues, including Congress’ recent passage of trade promotion authority for President Obama. |
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| While at the ALF-CIO Executive Council meeting, presidential candidate Hilary Clinton stated collective bargaining is “vital to existing plans for raising incomes” and commented that she was an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act. Clinton also pointed to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour and expressed support for various pro-union policies, such as fair pay and scheduling, affordable child care, earned sick leave, and paid family leave. |
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August 13, 2015 |
| Dodd-Frank Executive Compensation Update – Rounding the Final Turn? |
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| July 20, 2015 |
| Good News for California Employers: Clarifying Amendments to the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 – Effective July 13, 2015 |
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| July 16, 2015 |
| DOL Releases Guidance on Employee Misclassification |
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| July 15, 2015 |
| What the Supreme Court’s 2014 Term Means for Business |
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| July 14, 2015 |
| Connecticut Enacts “Pay Equity and Fairness” Act—Expanding List of States with Pay Transparency Legislation |
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| July 6, 2015 |
| EEOC Issues Modified Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination after Young v. UPS |
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| July 1, 2015 |
| NLRB Reconsideration Finds Discharge for Dishonesty in Investigation Lawful |
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| If you have questions about items that appeared in this bulletin, or would like to learn more about any of these topics, please contact William Miossi at (202) 282-5708 or (312) 558-6109, or one of the other Labor & Employment Department attorneys listed here: |
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