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In This Issue

1. ORGANIZING
   
   
2. STRIKES & LABOR DISPUTES
   
   
3. MAJOR CONTRACT SETTLEMENTS & NEGOTIATIONS
   
   
4. ADMINISTRATIVE & COURT DECISIONS
   
   
5. LEGISLATION & POLITICS
   
   
6. CRIME & CORRUPTION
   
   
7. MISCELLANEOUS
   
   
8. UPCOMING EVENTS
   
   
9. RECENT PUBLICATIONS
   
   

1. ORGANIZING

• Employees of the Waukesha Water Utility in Waukesha, Wisconsin, who were formerly represented by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, voted to decertify. The decertification followed the passage of Wisconsin’s legislation restricting public unions’ collective bargaining rights to bargain over wages.

• Employees of New Jersey flooring manufacturer Mannington Mills rejected representation by the IBEW Local 94 by a 2 to 1 margin. The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) sponsored election resulted in 204 votes against representation, 70 votes in favor and 25 challenged ballots. The election was the most recent in more than a dozen unsuccessful efforts to unionize Mannington Mills employees during the company’s 97-year history.

• Following an NLRB ruling that International Association of Machinises (“IAM”) prevailed in a 2009 election, IAM will represent the radiological control employees of the Newport News, Virginia shipyard of Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (formerly Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding). Huntington Ingalls had challenged the election and requested NLRB review on the grounds that all technical employees should have been included in the voting unit. The NLRB disagreed, finding that the 220 radiological control department employees constituted an appropriate bargaining unit because they had a community of interest sufficiently distinct from the shipyard’s other technical employees.

• Following an arbitrator’s certification that a majority of its grain handlers had signed union authorization cards, EGT LLC, a Washington state grain operator, agreed to recognize the International Longshore and Warehouse Union at its Port of Longview terminal on the Columbia River. In summer 2011, labor relations at EGT turned violent as longshoremen ransacked EGT’s terminal and attacked a guard. The dispute stemmed from EGT’s hiring, through a contractor, of workers who were represented by a different union, the International Union of Operating Engineers.

• Over 1,000 New York and New Jersey dockbuilders, pile drivers, divers, tenders, drillers, and foundation workers will vote on whether to continue to be represented by the New York City District Council of Carpenters (“NYCDC”), to opt for representation by the newly-formed Dockbuilders Local of Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners Union (“DLACJU”), or to opt for no representation. The workers are employed by more than 150 different employers who are members of the General Contractors Association of New York Inc. After an NLRB regional director ruled that a multiemployer bargaining unit was appropriate, the NLRB rejected the NYCDC’s request for review and instead directed that the election go forward. The NLRB regional director also rejected the NYCDC’s argument that the DLACJU is not a labor organization as defined by the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). A number of unions, including the AFL-CIO, have expressed support for the DLACJU’s efforts to represent the 1,000 workers.

• In a reversal of an earlier ruling, the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) allowed an additional 975 passenger service and reservation employees of the merged United Continental Airlines to vote in a representation election currently underway. The NMB’s decision came after IAM challenged an earlier ruling that the 975 workers in question did not perform passenger service functions. IAM, the only union on the ballot, currently represents approximately 8,770 United employees. Continental’s passenger service and reservation workers are unrepresented. If a majority of the combined workforce votes for IAM representation, it will be certified as the bargaining representative for the combined workforce. If IAM fails to win the election, it will be decertified as the representative of the pre-merger United employees and the combined workforce will be unrepresented.

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2. STRIKES & LABOR DISPUTES

• Bronx, New York employees of a Cablevision Systems Corporation contractor, Corbel Installations, Inc., engaged in a one-day wildcat strike the week after 282 Brooklyn workers employed directly by Cablevision voted for representation by the Communications Workers of America (“CWA”). The strike was triggered by a 30 percent pay cut imposed by Corbel, the direct employer of the 120 technicians.

• Following a labor dispute and a lockout that began on January 1, 2012, Caterpillar Inc. announced that it would close a railroad locomotive plant in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario plant employed approximately 450 manufacturing workers who were represented by the Canadian Auto Workers. According to Caterpillar, work from the Ontario plant will be shifted to plants in North and South America.

• Members of 141 International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”) Locals representing 7,500 employees of Hostess Brands Inc. voted to authorize a strike if Hostess succeeds in rejecting its collective bargaining agreements in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Hostess is also seeking to modify its obligations to contribute to multiemployer benefit plans which provide non-pension benefits to retirees. According to its bankruptcy filings, Hostess owes $944.2 million to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union (“BCTGM”) pension fund and $11.8 million to IBT’s Central States, Southeast, and Southwest Areas Pension Plan. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York is expected to rule on Hostess’s motions by early April 2012.

• Northern Ohio employees of the American Red Cross struck over issues related to donor safety and employee health coverage. The 200 striking blood collection workers and mobile unit assistants are represented by Teamsters Local 507.

• Employees of the American Crystal Sugar Company and the Cooper Tire and Rubber Company will embark on a road trip from Fargo, North Dakota to Findlay, Ohio in order to draw attention to their labor disputes. The American Crystal Sugar Company workers, who are represented by the BCTGM, have been locked out from seven facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa for more than six months. The Cooper Tire workers, who are represented by the United Steelworkers (“USW”), were locked out of their Findlay, Ohio tire plant from November 2011 until they ratified a new agreement in late February 2012. During the trip, titled “From Fargo to Findlay: A Journey for Justice,” workers will hold rallies, fundraisers, and direct actions with local union members and allies.

• According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of major work stoppages increased 72.7 percent from 2010 levels, while idle days increased 338 percent from 2010 levels. These figures represent a five-year high in the number of major strikes and number of workers involved, and a four-year high in the number of resulting idle days. The Bureau defines a “major work stoppage” as a stoppage (including both strikes and lockouts) involving 1,000 or more employees. According to the Bureau, 113,000 U.S. workers were involved in major work stoppages in 2011, sharply up from 45,000 workers in 2010. Two of the largest work stoppages were a two-week strike by the Communications Workers of America and the IBEW against Verizon Communications, and the National Football League’s (“NFL”) four-month lockout of the NFL Players Association. The number of strikes or lockouts involving at least 1,000 workers increased to 19 in 2011 from 11 in 2010. Of the 19 major work stoppages in 2011, all but one took place in the private sector. The health care and construction industries each had six major strikes or lockouts, more than any other industry.

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3. MAJOR CONTRACT SETTLEMENTS &
   NEGOTIATIONS

• Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways ratified a tentative agreement to merge the airlines’ seniority lists, affecting approximately 12,000 flight attendants. Southwest acquired AirTran in May 2011. The Southwest flight attendants are represented by the Transport Workers Union (“TWU”), while the AirTran flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants. However, once the agreement is finalized and Southwest fully absorbs AirTran, all flight attendants of the combined airline will be represented by TWU and covered by its collective bargaining agreement with Southwest.

• The USW reached a three-year tentative national pattern agreement that, if ratified, would cover more than 30,000 workers at oil producers including Shell Oil, British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Amoco, and ConocoPhillips, in addition to more than 30 independent refiners. The covered workers are employed in 168 facilities throughout the United States which represent approximately 64 percent of U.S. refining capacity. In reaching the tentative agreement hours before the previous contract expired, the refineries averted a planned strike. Although specific details of the agreement have not yet been released, USW officials stated that their top priority was improved health and safety measures. If ratified, the tentative national pattern agreement will become the minimum standard that must be met in local bargaining.

• U.S. Airways and the Association of Flight Attendants reached a tentative five-year collective bargaining agreement that, if ratified, will cover 6,700 flight attendants. Under the terms of the agreement, flight attendants in their first through sixth year of employment would receive a 6 percent raise; flight attendants in their seventh through 14th year of employment would receive a 9 percent raise; and a new pay step for the 15th year of employment would be added at 1.8 percent above the rate for fourteen-year employees. The tentative agreement also provides for additional pay raises of 1 percent, 1.5 percent, and 1.5 percent after 12 months, 36 months, and 54 months; protections for flight attendants in the event of a merger; changes to the on-call reserve system; and limits on furloughs.

• Employees of the Golden Nugget Atlantic City hotel and casino ratified a three-year agreement between Golden Nugget and UNITE HERE Local 54. The agreement will cover approximately 600 employees, including cooks, bartenders, cocktail servers, housekeepers, and all other uniformed workers other than dealers and security guards. Under the agreement, employees will receive increased wages and will maintain their employer-paid health and pension benefits; Golden Nugget will build two additional bars and one more restaurant, which will be union-staffed; and Golden Nugget may add one non-union restaurant.

• Employees of NBC Universal Inc. ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, an affiliate of the CWA. The agreement will cover approximately 2,500 broadcast technicians; news writers; building, air conditioning, and plant maintenance personnel; staging services personnel; and couriers at various company network and television station operations in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Burbank. The contract provides for a signing bonus of $750 for staff employees; 100 new full-time staff positions over the contract term; and wage increases of 2.75 percent, 2.75 percent, and 2.5 percent in 2012, 2013, and 2014 respectively.

• Members of USW Local 675 ratified two-year collective bargaining agreements covering approximately 60 workers at two car wash facilities in Los Angeles. Under the agreements, the workers at Vermont Car Wash and Navas Car Wash—who were previously unrepresented—will receive a 2 percent wage increase. The contract also provides for additional safety equipment and on-the-job training and includes job security provisions. The car wash industry is largely non-unionized and an October 2011 agreement between the USW and Bonus Car Wash in Santa Monica, California is believed to be the first collective bargaining agreement with a car wash in the United States.

• Employees of Timken Co., an Ohio-based specialty alloy steel manufacturer, ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement with USW Local 1123. The agreement, which will cover 2,200 workers at Timken’s four plants, includes annual pay raises totaling 11 percent over the life of the contract; cost-of-living adjustments; increased incentive pay; improvements in health care and pension benefits; and retention of a $5,000 retirement bonus. After the contract was ratified, Timken announced that it would proceed with a $225 million expansion of its Faircrest plant, which is expected to increase plant production capacity by 25 percent.

• Members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association ratified six-year collective bargaining agreements covering approximately 8,600 freight railroad employees. These are the 11th and 12th agreements ratified after President Obama appointed a presidential emergency board (“PEB”) to assist in resolving ongoing bargaining disputes between unions and U.S. freight railroads. The 12 ratified contracts cover more than 107,000 employees and generally mirror the PEB’s recommendations, including wage increases and modifications to health care benefits. Under the contracts, wages will increase by 18.6 percent; employees will receive a 1 percent lump-sum ratification payment; and a new system will be phased in of annual health care deductibles and increased copayments. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters—the 13th and final union which bargains with the National Carriers Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference—also reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement that, if ratified, will cover 25,000 additional railway workers.

• Locked-out employees of Cooper Tire and Rubber Company’s Findlay, Ohio plant ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement covering 1,050 workers. Ratification of the agreement will end a three-month lockout that began when the employees voted against a previous contract offer. The agreement provides that senior employees will receive annual lump-sum payments; less-senior employees will receive wage increases; the time it takes a worker to move through the wage-step structure will be shortened; company matching funds on senior employees’ 401(k) accounts will be discontinued; and an early retirement/buyout program will be implemented. Unlike the previous contract offer that was rejected by the employees, the ratified contract does not implement a five-tier wage structure with no wage guarantees. Previously, on January 26, 2012, employees of Cooper Tire’s Texarkana, Arkansas plant, who are represented by USW Local 752L, ratified a four-year contract covering 1,500 workers, and on February 15, 2012, employees of Cooper Tire’s Clarksdale, Mississippi plant voted to ratify a four-year contract covering 43 workers.

• United Airlines in-flight service workers represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America (“AFA”) voted to ratify a four-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement provides for an immediate 10 percent pay increase; a $5,000 signing bonus; and quality-of-work-life enhancements, job security provisions, and more flexible scheduling rules. AFA and the recently-merged United Continental are seeking a single harmonized collective bargaining agreement which would cover United’s 15,000 flight attendants and Continental’s 9,000 flight attendants; after the ratification, spokesmen for both parties stated that they would return to the bargaining table to attempt to reach such a single harmonized agreement.

• According to collective bargaining data compiled by BNA through February 6 for all settlements, the average first-year wage increase was 1.8 percent, compared with 1.4 percent during the comparable period of 2011. The median first-year increase for contracts reported to date in 2012 was 2 percent, compared with 1 percent in 2011; the weighted average was 2 percent, compared with 0.9 percent in 2011. Factoring lump-sum payments into wage calculations, the all-settlements average first-year increase to date was 2.3 percent, compared with 1.8 percent in the comparable period of 2011. Excluding construction and state and local government agreements, the all-settlements average increase was 3.1 percent, compared with 2.2 percent in 2011.

• According to collective bargaining data compiled by BNA, lump-sum payment provisions (i.e., one-time payments not added into an employee’s base pay) were included in 15 percent of all non-construction collective bargaining agreements in 2011. This percentage is unchanged from 2010, but is a decrease from a high of 36 percent in 1988. BNA based its conclusion on an analysis of 923 bargaining agreements covering more than 1.3 million employees. The most common form of lump-sum payment was a flat-dollar amount, which in 2011 averaged $1,340 for first-year lump-sum payments, as compared to $1,091 in 2010. The second most common form of lump-sum payment was a percentage of the previous year’s pay, averaging 1.5 percent in 2011 as compared to 2 percent in 2010.

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4. ADMINISTRATIVE & COURT DECISIONS

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed an NLRB decision granting reinstatement and back pay to an x-ray technician who was terminated from Kentucky River Medical Center over a decade ago. The NLRB ruled that the medical center violated the NLRA by firing Melissa Turner for engaging in union activity and participating in a strike. The medical center disputed the Board’s ruling as to the appropriate remedy and appealed that issue to the Sixth Circuit. The medical center argued that Turner’s conviction of a drug-related felony two years after her termination terminated her rights to reinstatement and back pay; that Turner’s actions in quitting a subsequent job in order to provide child care should toll its back pay liability; and that Turner’s back pay should be reduced because she took an extended medical leave of absence from another job. The Sixth Circuit rejected each of these arguments and affirmed the NLRB’s award of reinstatement and back pay in the amount of $79,577 plus interest. NLRB v. Jackson Hosp. Corp. d/b/a/ Ky. River Med. Ctr.

• Judge Robert M. Dow of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the Chicago local of the IBT breached its duty of fair representation and can be held liable to union members for lost wages after it failed to request negotiations with UChicago Argonne LLC under the wage-reopener clause of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. Judge Dow ruled that Local 673 breached the Labor Management Relations Act (“LMRA”) by acting “arbitrarily” in its representation of approximately 24 union-represented truck drivers, and granted summary judgment to the plaintiff truck drivers. The CBA allowed either party to request wage negotiations by giving written notice by January 6, 2009, and a union steward twice reminded the union’s business agent to send such notice. However, union officials failed to do so by the deadline, blaming the missed deadline on a “clerical error.” Further proceedings will be held on the issue of damages. Begeske v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 673.

• Just weeks after Indiana enacted a right-to-work law, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, seeking to invalidate the law. The union alleged that the law violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause by allowing workers to choose not to pay dues and thus placing the burden on dues-paying members to shoulder the expenses of union representation. The union also alleged that the law interferes with union security provisions in collective bargaining agreements it has in the building and construction industry. Sweeney et al. v. Daniels et al.

• The Ontario Labor Relations Board ruled that Vale Inco Ltd. violated the province’s Labor Relations Act when, in the course of negotiating a new contract with the USW Locals 6500 and 6200, it refused to arbitrate the terminations of nine union members who were discharged during a strike. Although the Ontario Labor Relations Board ruled that the refusal of Vale, a mining company, to arbitrate was not a per se violation of the Act, it found that Vale’s position was patently unreasonable and ordered Vale to engage in arbitration. During the strike, which lasted from July 2009 until July 2010, both sides engaged in inflammatory rhetoric, and Vale hired replacement workers and obtained injunctions against picket-line misconduct. The nine employees in question were terminated as a result of their picket-line activities; three ultimately faced criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a worker who crossed the picket line. One was convicted and two were acquitted.

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5. LEGISLATION & POLITICS

• Indiana enacted a right-to-work law that prohibits to employers from requiring that their employees join a union or pay dues to a union, but does not bar employees from joining a union and does not prevent unions from engaging in collective bargaining or strikes. Despite Democratic opposition, the bill passed the Indiana Senate by a vote of 28 to 22, passed the Indiana House of Representatives by a vote of 54 to 44, and was signed into law by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels. Including Indiana, there are now 23 states that have enacted right-to-work laws.

• In Minnesota, Republican state lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would give workers the opportunity to choose whether to join a union. Under this right-to-work amendment, employees could not be forced to pay union dues if they chose not to join a union, but unions and union members would not be prevented from engaging in collective bargaining. Democratic legislators and unions voiced opposition to the proposed amendment.

• The CWA endorsed the re-election of President Obama after 66 percent of members surveyed expressed their support. Twenty percent of members supported one of the Republican candidates, while 14 percent were undecided. CWA President Larry Cohen announced the endorsement at the union’s annual legislative-political conference, at which Vice President Biden spoke.

• Following U.S. Senate and House approval, President Obama signed into law H.R. 658, the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, a long-term reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill includes labor-related provisions making it easier for airports to replace TSA airport screeners with private contractors; making it harder for the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) to conduct rulemaking in the future; and changing procedures for runoff elections by requiring that employees be given the opportunity to vote against union representation even if the overall majority in the original vote favored representation.

• The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on the use of union dues in election campaigns. The hearing, titled “The Right to Choose: Protecting Union Workers from Forced Political Contributions,” was billed as the first in a series of committee hearings examining the effect of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Testifying witnesses included three union members who testified that their union dues were used for political purposes they did not agree with without their authorization, as well as a law professor who testified that union members can opt out from having their dues used for political activities. At the conclusion of the hearing, committee members approved a 17-page staff report titled “Workplace Freedom and Fairness: Are Workers Forced to Fund Political Causes They Oppose?”

• Republican members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives introduced joint resolutions expressing disapproval of the NLRB’s December 2011 amendment of its regulations governing union representation elections. The amendment, which is scheduled to go into effect on April 30, 2012, makes seven changes in NLRB procedures in representation cases, including revising Board regulations to state that the purpose of pre-election hearings is to determine whether a question concerning union representation exists that should be resolved in a secret ballot election, and allowing NLRB hearing officers to limit the presentation of evidence accordingly. The amendment also eliminates the right of parties to seek pre-election board review of most decisions by NLRB regional directors, while allowing those decisions to be raised for review after an election. The one-sentence joint resolution states that “Congress disapproves” of the amendment, and “such rule shall have no force or effect.”

• The South Carolina House of Representatives approved a bill, H. 4652, which would require employers to display a poster informing employees of South Carolina’s right-to-work protections and clarifying that employment may not be denied because of membership or non-membership in a union; would require unions to provide the state with organizational and financial information; would increase the penalties that may be imposed on labor groups violating state right-to-work protections; and would prohibit the use of project labor agreements on public construction projects. The South Carolina House approved the bill by a vote of 70 to 19, and Governor Nikki Haley has expressed support for the bill.

• A survey of registered Ohio voters showed that 54 percent support a right-to-work ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution by outlawing any requirement of union membership or of paying dues or fees to a union as a condition of employment. Proponents of the legislation must gather 385,253 signatures of registered voters by July 4, 2012 in order to place the initiative on the November 2012 ballot. In November 2011, Ohio voters rejected a bill that would have rescinded most collective bargaining rights of public employees.

• The Michigan AFL-CIO launched a petition drive in an effort to stop passage of a number of state bills affecting unions and collective bargaining rights. Among the bills the petition drive seeks to defeat are H.B. 5025, which would require unions to gather member authorizations each year in order to collect dues; S.B. 971, which would prohibit graduate student research assistants from unionizing; and H.B. 5174, which would allow the state to contract prisons to private companies. According to the organizers of the petition drive, there are more than 80 pending bills in Michigan that would chip away at workers’ collective bargaining rights.

• U.S. Representative Sandy Adams (R-Fla.) introduced the Keep Employees’ Emails and Phones Secure Act, H.R. 3991. This bill, which is co-sponsored by 33 Republican House members, would prohibit the NLRB from requiring employers to give the Board or a union the telephone number or email address of an employee. Under current law, prior to a union election an employer must provide the Board with a list of eligible employee voters and their addresses, which are then provided to the union. In June 2011, the NLRB proposed a rule amendment that would require the employer to provide this information in electronic form. Previously, in November 2011, the House passed a similar bill, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, H.R. 3094, which retains the requirement that an employer provide a voter eligibility list prior to an election, but provides that the list will contain only employee names plus one additional form of personal contact information, such as telephone number, email address, or mailing address, which is chosen by the employee. However, the Senate has not acted on that bill.

• In a speech at a United Auto Workers (“UAW”) annual conference in Washington, D.C., President Obama praised the resurgence of the U.S. automobile manufacturing industry and asserted that his decision to place his “bet on American workers” by implementing government-controlled bankruptcies of General Motors Company and Chrysler Group LLC paid off. President Obama also praised the UAW and its members, and noted that the U.S. auto industry added 200,000 new jobs during the last two and a half years. In addition, President Obama discussed an executive order he signed establishing the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center, whose mission will be to counter unfair trading practices around the world.

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6. CRIME & CORRUPTION

• Robert L. Carr and Theresa Ann Carr pled guilty to three felony charges resulting from their misappropriation of $120,000 in funds from the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 228 between 2000 and 2009. Robert L. Carr was the secretary-treasurer and business manager of the Yuba City, California-based union, while his wife, Theresa Ann Carr, was a union employee. According to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, the Carrs used union checks and credit cards to pay for goods and services for themselves and family members, and wrote checks from union accounts for unauthorized bonuses and fictitious reimbursements. The charges—one felony count of conspiring to misappropriate labor union funds and two felony counts of misappropriating labor union funds—carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation.

• The Carpenters and Joiners of America (“CJA”) filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, alleging that the AFL-CIO’s Building & Construction Trades Department (“BCTD”), along with its president and four other high-level officials, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and state law by engaging in an unlawful extortionate campaign to force CJA into certain “involuntary agreements.” In particular, CJA alleges that the defendants conspired to carry out a “campaign of intimidation, threats, violence and other unlawful extortionate conduct” to compel the CJA to make monthly payments to BCTD in perpetuity; to allow BCTD to exercise CJA’s rights to recruit, accept, and train dues-paying members; to enter into BCTD-negotiated project and other agreements; to be bound by BCTD’s Plan for the Settlement of Jurisdictional Disputes; and to allow BCTD to control CJA’s political activity. According to BCTD’s president, BCTD will vigorously defend against CJA’s claims. Carpenters and Joiners of Am. v. Building and Constr. Trades Dep’t.

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7. MISCELLANEOUS

• The AFL-CIO will launch a revamped website that will include more videos and an enhanced search feature, along with a number of other new features. According to AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, the revamped website is intended to be a tool for both union and non-union workers, and will have a more modern design than the previous version. The AFL-CIO’s website was last updated in 2005.

• The CWA and the Transport Workers Union entered into a nonfinancial affiliation. The unions, which have headquarters in the same Washington, D.C. building, together represent approximately 120,000 airline employees and have previously supported each other in organizing campaigns.

• The National Union of Healthcare Workers (“NUHW”) and the IAM announced that they have signed a letter of intent to pursue a formal relationship and work toward a future affiliation, subject to approval by NUHW members and IAM leadership. NUHW represents 9,000 workers in California and Michigan, while IAM represents 700,000 workers nationwide, including some health care workers in New York City and Long Beach City, California.

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8. UPCOMING EVENTS

• Winston & Strawn will host an eLunch titled "NLRA Strategies" on
  Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 12:15 (Central). eLunch

• Winston & Strawn will host an eLunch titled "Social Media in the Workplace"
  on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 12:15 (Central). eLunch

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9. RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• March 2, 2012
  Court Rules Employer’s Attendance Policy Seeking Medical Conditions for Absences Violates the ADA. Briefing

• March 2, 2012
  Court Rules on NLRB’s Notice Posting Regulation. Briefing

• February 14, 2012
  California Extends “Forced Labor” Disclosure to Retailers and Manufacturers Outside of the State. Briefing

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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 Relations partners listed here:

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