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| According to data released by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board), the Board’s recent revisions to union election rules has sped up election procedures, but has not led to a spike in representation petitions or increased union election wins. The data shows that since the election rules changes, the median number of days elapsed between the filing of a representation petition with the Board and the representation election itself decreased from 38 to 24 days. The number of total petitions dropped by four percent, to 2,674 compared to 2,792, while the union win rate remained nearly constant. The data also shows that the number of petitions blocked by unfair labor practice charges dropped from 194 to 107. |
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| Airbnb and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are discussing a partnership to collaborate on advancing policies of “fair taxation” and creating “access to affordable housing.” The proposed partnership agreement also would require the company to endorse the $15 minimum wage campaign and to utilize union-backed cleaners through their home-sharing platform. |
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| Membership in the United Auto Workers (UAW) rose by 1.3 percent in 2015, an increase of nearly 5,200 workers. This is the sixth straight year of small gains for the Detroit-based union. Following the UAW’s all-time high of nearly 1.5 million members in 1979, the union fell to a record low of just over 355,000 in 2009. Since 2009, UAW membership has risen 15 percent. |
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| Following Uber’s $100 million settlement of two class actions with its drivers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced that it intends to help create an “association” of drivers in California. The settlements between Uber and the drivers, however, preserved the status of the drivers as independent contractors. Uber agreed that it would fund the creation of an association which would allow elected driver leaders to express concerns voiced by rank-and-file drivers. The company further agreed to meet with the association’s elected leaders once a quarter. |
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| Detroit Chassis LLC, an auto-parts manufacturer, has agreed to the recognize the UAW as the representative of 58 temporary workers at its Avon, Ohio plant. |
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| Graduate research and teaching assistants at Harvard University have asked the school allow a representation election after arbitrators found that the Harvard Graduate Students Union, affiliated with the UAW, enjoyed majority support of the nearly 2,900 graduate assistants. Organizing efforts at Harvard began last fall. Harvard maintains that the relationship between graduate student and a university is about education, not employment. |
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| Members of the Frontier Airline Pilots Association (FAPA) voted overwhelmingly, with some 93 percent in favor, to merge with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for contract negotiations with Frontier Air. The merger is expected to take effect June 1 and will add 1,000 FAPA pilots to the 52,000 pilots currently represented by ALPA. |
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| Boston University faculty voted 135-36 for representation by the SEIU, adding to the SEIU’s national campaign to unionize at institutions of higher learning. This comes after the SEIU organized approximately 800 adjunct faculty at Boston University last year. |
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| According to a recent financial filing with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has officially ended financial support of the anti-Walmart group, OURWalmart. The UFCW-run organization was the main vehicle for most of the protests and other events over the last several years that opposed Walmart’s policies. The UFCW has long sought to organize Walmart’s 1.3 million employees. |
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| A bargaining unit of 925 registered nurses at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia voted 463-343 in favor of union representation by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP). |
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| The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) recently won NLRB-supervised representation elections at charter schools in Cleveland and Chicago, despite the fact that the charter schools – funded by the government – are often thought of and treated as public entities. Since 2012, when the NLRB first asserted jurisdiction over pubic charter schools, the AFT has had number of successful organizing campaigns. Currently, about 10-12 percent of charter schools nationally are organized. |
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| The Trump Hotel in Las Vegas is challenging the NLRB certification of an election of 525 workers who voted 238-209 for representation by UNITE HERE affiliates, Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165. The hotel’s objections are based on claims of union wrongdoing during the election process, including coercion and threats. |
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| The NLRB held that tenured and tenure-track faculty members at Tufts University School of Medicine were not eligible for union representation. The Board determined that the members were managers, since they engage in supervisory and managerial roles. Trs. of Tufts Coll. |
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| Short-haul drivers who work for Intermodal Bridge Transport at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles went on strike on April 20 for the third time in 12 months. The drivers are seeking to be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. An NLRB Regional Director issued a complaint against the company, alleging the drivers are misclassified as independent contractors, inhibiting them from engaging in union activity. The strike is part of the Teamsters’ Justice for Port Truck Drivers campaign, aimed at reclassifying the drivers as employees. |
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| Verizon landline workers walked off the job after failing to reach an agreement on a labor contract covering more than 36,000 workers. Verizon had been negotiating the terms of 27 collective bargaining agreements covering 29,000 workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and nearly 10,000 workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The strike could reportedly delay billing and technical-support calls as well as disrupt installation for Internet and pay-TV subscribers from Massachusetts to Virginia. Members of the CWA and IBEW picketed hundreds of Verizon offices and equipment facilities. |
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| About 30 warehouse workers from California Cartage, which stores and distributes goods for such companies as Amazon, Lowe’s, Kmart, and Sears, launched their third unfair labor practice strike in seven months. The workers allege that the warehouse intimidated and retaliated against employees who tried to organize co-workers, spoke out about working conditions, and pushed for higher wages. The workers are not represented by a union, but are supported by the IBT. |
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| Bloomberg BNA data compiled through April 18, 2016 for all 2016 contracts showed that the average first year wage increase was 2.7 percent, the same as during the comparable period in 2015. The median first year wage increase for settlements reported to date in 2016 was 2.5 percent, compared with 2.1 percent in 2015. |
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| California Nurses Association/National Nurses United ratified three-year agreements with Prime Healthcare covering about 1,500 nurses at two hospitals in California and one in Nevada. Union representation reported that staffing ratio language was preserved, nurses will receive wage increases of nine percent over the next three years, and employee health care plans will remain unchanged. |
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| The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and Vice Media reached a collective bargaining agreement covering 80 editorial employees. The agreement requires a minimum salary of $45,000 per year, with all bargaining unit employees set to receive a 14 percent wage increase in the first year. Vice Media also agreed to contribute up to three percent to employees’ 401(k) plans and to allow employees to perform work outside the company. |
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| The SEIU and Washington University in St. Louis reached a tentative four-year labor agreement covering about 300 adjunct faculty members. Union officials stated that the proposed contract includes an increased compensation package providing faculty more money per class with a more predictable schedule. |
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| International Association of Machinists (IAM) members voted to ratify agreements with United Airlines covering 30,000 workers. Seven contracts were ratified, including covering fleet service workers and passenger service agents, reservation agents, and storekeepers. The contracts provide pay increases totaling 30 percent over the terms of the contracts and $100 million in lump sum payments, gains in defined pension benefits, the end of outsourcing of IAM members’ work and insourcing of additional work at the San Francisco and Los Angles hubs. |
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| More than 850 table games dealers, poker dealers, warehouse and valet workers, and culinary employees, and the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati will be covered under a tentative agreement on a first contract. The workers are represented by a four-union council comprised of the UAW, United Steelworkers, UNITE HERE, and IBT. Although agreement details are being withheld pending ratification, the UAW reported that the agreement provides for general wage increases and other improvements. |
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| The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the advertising industry reached an agreement on terms for successor television and radio commercial contracts. The agreement will provide an end to the commercial contract negotiations that took place under a “media blackout.” The terms of the agreement were not released. |
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| UAW members at the Volvo plant in Dublin, Virginia ratified a five-year agreement covering 2,000 employees. The agreement provides improved health care benefits, with the company paying 90 percent of the health care plan premiums and no increases to deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums. Additionally, all workers will receive $2,000 lump-sum payments upon ratification and additional lump-sum and wage increases based on their hire date. |
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| Members of the UFCW and IBT ratified a master agreement covering 30,000 grocery workers in western Washington State. The contract is a three-year, multiemployer agreement covering clerks, cashiers, meat-cutters, and stockers employed at large retail food store chains, including Albertsons, Safeway, Fred Meyer, and Quality Food Centers. The unions claim the contracts require increased employer contributions to employee health benefits, retirement, and other improvements, including wage increases. |
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| Boston University and the SEIU reached a first, tentative three-year agreement covering about 800 adjunct faculty members. The union reports that the agreement increases minimum wages, improves course stability, provides funding to adjuncts and includes a formal process to deal with workplace conflicts. The agreement came days after the union staged a protest at the university over working conditions. The union is also in the midst of contract talks for faculty at Bentley and Brandeis universities. |
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| Five UFCW locals ratified separate three-year agreements with Stop & Shop covering 34,000 workers at 248 grocery stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Stop & Shop has agreed to create 480 new union-member jobs over the course of the agreements. About 70 percent of the workers covered by the contracts are employed part-time. The contracts also include two-week advance work-scheduling program for the first time. |
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| United Steelworkers and ArcelorMittal reached a tentative agreement covering some 13,000 employees. If ratified, the agreement would last through September 1, 2018. Contract details are being withheld pending ratification. |
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| The SEIU and a coalition of private security companies reached an agreement covering 3,000 guards at commercial office buildings in Washington, D.C. According to SEIU officials, the contract includes gradual pay increases over its term, including up to $17.54 for almost all employees by the time the agreement expires, maintains current employer-paid health benefits, improves employee working conditions and job protections, and expands workers’ retirement benefits. |
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| The NLRB rejected Volkswagon (VW) Group of America Inc.’s challenge to the appropriateness of appropriate bargaining unit comprised of a small set of workers at VW’s Chattanooga, Tenn. facility. The Board found the 160 maintenance workers at the plant are easily identifiable as a distinct group, and further found that VW failed to demonstrate that production employees shared an “overwhelming community of interest” with the maintenance employees, such that they should be included as part of the larger unit. Board member Phillip Miscimarra dissented, finding among other reasons, that the employees work in different physical locations. The Volkswagon Group of America Inc. |
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| The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled that Johnson Controls Inc. retirees were not entitled to unlimited lifetime benefits, because their health care benefits were not vested. After Johnson Controls unilaterally reduced health benefits by instituting a lifetime cap of $50,000 on benefits payable, a class of retirees brought suit under ERISA and the LMRA. Granting summary judgment to the company, the court found that the agreements at issue did not contain “clear and express language” providing for vested unlimited lifetime health care benefits to retirees. The court determined that Third Circuit precedent held that vesting of welfare plan benefits constituted an “extra-ERISA commitment,” and therefore the employer’s commitment had to be in “clear and express” language. The retirees had argued that the court should follow Justice Ruth B. Ginsburg's concurrence in M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, where she found that no rule required clear and express language to show that the parties intended health care benefits to vest. However, the district court rejected this argument, determining that the Supreme Court, in its unanimous opinion in Tackett, declined to address whether clear and express language is required by not issuing any specific holding on this point. Further, the court stated that since “the unanimous Tackett Court refused to address the Third Circuit's clear and express language standard, the court declines to follow Justice Ginsburg's additional guidance as it applies to said standard.” Grove v. Johnson Controls Inc. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that CityCenterDC, a mixed-use development built in partnership with the city of Washington D.C., was not required to pay local prevailing wages to its workers. The circuit court ruled that the private/public project was not subject to the Davis- Bacon Act’s wage requirements because the government was not involved in the construction contacts and the project was not a public use. The court held that applying the act to the project would be a “massive” expansion of the law, and rejected the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) argument that the project was a public work because it sits on 10 acres of city land. The court determined that although the city owns the land, it had rented the land to developers in a series of 99-year leases, and the developers entered into the construction contracts, not the city. Further, the court held that even if the city were a party to the contract, the act would not apply because the project was not a public work due to the fact that it did not meet the definition: “public funding for its construction, or government ownership or operation of the completed facility.” District of Columbia and CCDC Office LLC v. Dep’t of Labor et al. |
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| An NLRB Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held that Kellogg Brown & Root LLC’s (KBR) mandatory arbitration provision in its employment agreement violated federal labor law. The ALJ ordered KBR to rescind or revise the dispute resolution agreement containing the mandatory arbitration provision and to notify employees who have signed the agreement that it has done so. Kellogg Brown & Root LLC. |
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| An NLRB ALJ held that AFL-CIO affiliate violated federal labor law by refusing to officially sign a collective bargaining agreement it negotiated with Von Roll USA Inc. The ALJ found that the parties had reached a “meeting of the minds” regarding a cross-training provision. Therefore, the union’s refusal to sign-off on a draft agreement was unlawful. International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaries, Machine and Furniture Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC, Local 301 and Von Roll USA, Inc. |
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| National and state business groups filed a motion in federal district court in Texas seeking a preliminary injunction to block the DOL from implementing and enforcing a “new and constricted” interpretation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) provision that exempts the giving of advice of the LMRDA’s disclosure requirements. The groups filed a brief urging the court to enter a preliminary injunction against the DOL’s new rule on persuader activities, arguing that the rule violated the LMRDA and the First Amendment. Nat’l Fed’n of Independent Bus. V. Perez. See DOL Issues Final Persuader Rule for more information. |
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| A federal judge for the Southern District of New York issued an injunction under Section 10(j) of the NLRA, ordering Wingate of Dutchess Inc., a New York nursing home, to bargain with a SEIU affiliate. The court found that the Board’s general counsel demonstrated a strong likelihood of success with respect to various claims that the employer committed unfair labor practices in connection with the union’s organizing drive. The judge agreed with prior findings that the employer had, among other things, unlawfully instituted an employee raise just before a 2014 representation election where workers voted against representation. Despite the union’s election loss, the judge ordered the nursing home to bargain, as well as ordering reinstatement of an employee who was allegedly fired for union activity. Ley v. Wingate of Dutchess Inc. |
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| The Sixth Circuit upheld the NLRB’s finding that an employer illegally fired a dump truck driver who used the company radio and posted signs to complain about working conditions. The circuit court found that the employee’s conduct was protected concerted activity. Because the employer admitted that the firing decision was motivated in part by the driver’s radio calls, the Sixth Circuit said it was compelled to find that the firing was unlawful. Lou’s Transp., Inc v. NLRB. |
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| The D.C. Circuit ruled that the NLRB must reconsider a regional director’s authority to certify a union representative during a period when the Board lacked a three-member quorum. During the period in which the NLRB lacked a quorum, the Hospital of Barstow Inc. entered a consent agreement that gave the NLRB director final authority in an election proceeding. Following an election, the regional director certified the union. The D.C. Circuit rejected the Board’s argument that the hospital waived the quorum issue, and remanded the case to address the issue of whether the official could act without a quorum to take final and unreviewable actions pursuant to the terms of consent agreements. Hosp. of Barstow, Inc. v. NLRB. |
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| The D.C. Circuit upheld a NLRB ruling that Fort Dearborn Co. illegally fired a union organizer who was chief steward for two of the plant’s three bargaining units. The circuit court found the company’s asserted reason for firing the employee – bringing unauthorized visitors to the plant in violation of company policy – was “pretextual” as the rule was not enforced for other employees and the termination occurred shortly after a contentious collective bargaining negotiations. Further, shortly before he was fired, a manager threatened to scrutinize the union organizer closely and find a reason to fire him. Fort Dearborn Co. v. NLRB. |
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| The Eighth Circuit held that Silgan Containers Corp., was not entitled to rescind a union contract provision that the company signed by mistake. The district court held that Missouri law supported the employer’s right to rescind an agreement on pension contributions. The Eighth Circuit reversed, reluctant to interfere with contract negotiations between a labor union and a sophisticated employer. The union representatives were silent with respect to the company’s error, but the court found that the employer was responsible for its own failure to notice a lack of an employer contribution cap for pensions that was included in the prior collective bargaining agreement. The employer read, proofed, and edited the contract, without making any mention of a cap to pension contributions. The circuit court determined the employer was not entitled to judicial relief of a mistake of its own making. Silgan Containers Corp. v. Sheet Metal Workers Local 2. |
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| An NLRB ALJ ruled that Quicken Loans and other related companies’ rules contained in an employee manual called “The Big Book,” which warned against posting workplace issues “online,” and encouraged communicating directly with team leaders and management, could reasonably be interpreted as violating employees’ federal labor law rights to debate and communicate with others about the terms and conditions of their employment. The ALJ recommended the companies post notices in offices stating that they will cease using the rules deemed overbroad. Quicken Loans Inc. et al. and Hugh MacEachern. |
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| A Wisconsin state court judge struck down a Wisconsin’s right-to-work law banning labor contracts that require private sector workers to pay union dues. Several unions, including the AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers, filed suit challenging the law as unconstitutional because it was the “taking” of union property without just compensation, because the union must function on the workers behalf who no longer have to pay union dues as condition of employment. The state’s justice department, arguing in support of the law, stated that the Seventh Circuit had already rejected this position in upholding a right-to-work law in Indiana. The decision is expected to be appealed. International Association of Machinist District 10 and its Local Lodge 1061 et al. v. State of Wisconsin et al. |
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| A federal district court rejected the NLRB’s request for a preliminary injunction against TruStone Financial Credit Union in Minnesota. The judge ordered the credit union to post a notice informing its employees about its labor dispute with the OPEIU union and to advise employees about remedial measures that the employer will be required to make if they are ultimately found to have violated the federal labor law. The NLRB asked that the credit union be ordered to recognize the union as the bargaining agent and to cease making unilateral changes in employment conditions. The court rejected the NLRB’s argument that an injunction was necessary to avoid irreparable harm and instead ordered the credit union to post the notice within 10 days. Osthus v. TruStone Fin. Fed. Credit Union. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the NLRB acted within its discretion in certifying a union local to represent maintenance employees at an ice cream plant separately from the production workers in the same facility. The employer had challenged the NLRB’s bargaining unit determination to allow the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 to represent a bargaining unit of 113 maintenance workers, which improperly excluded some 578 production workers. The Fourth Circuit was satisfied that applying the “overwhelming community of interest” did not run afoul of the NLRA's proscription on the Board giving controlling effect to the extent to which a union has organized employees. The court rejected the company’s claim that the Board’s ruling “exceeded the reasonable boundaries of the adjudicative process and abused its discretion.” The appeals court determined that the NLRB “may adopt new regulatory principles through adjudication rather than rulemaking,” and Specialty Healthcare's “clarification of agency law through adjudication” was not an abuse of the Board's jurisdiction under the NLRA. Nestle Dreyer’s Ice Cream Co. v. NLRB. |
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| The D.C. Circuit held that musicians who sign up to perform in seasonal concerts at the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra were employees with the right to engage in collective bargaining. The NLRB had previously found the musicians to be employees, despite being classified as independent contractors, and ordered the orchestra to bargain with the American Federation of Musicians local, after the musicians voted for representation. The circuit court upheld the Board’s findings based on the amount of control the orchestra exercises over the musicians, even though the musicians are seasonal and sign agreements saying they are independent contractors to be paid for each performance and rehearsal. Lancaster Symphony Orchestra v. NLRB. |
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| The Third Circuit upheld a Board finding that a waste disposal company unlawfully refused to bargain with a union that won a 2014 representation election, even though the Board regional director at the time lacked authority to conduct an election because the NLRB lacked a valid quorum under the NLRB v. Noel Canning. The circuit court concluded that the even though NLRB regional director Dennis Walsh, who oversaw the election at the company, was appointed at time when the Board lacked a valid quorum, he and the Board properly ratified previously unauthorized actions. As such, the court found that the Board’s determination that the company violated labor laws by refusing to collectively bargain could stand. The court rejected the Board’s claims that the company forfeited its right to challenge Walsh’s authority to conduct the election by signing a stipulated election agreement, but it held that the Board and Walsh resolved the quorum violations by meeting the ratification requirements. Advanced Disposal Services East Inc. v. NLRB. |
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| The Sixth Circuit ruled that an employer had the right to repudiate statutory and contractual obligations under a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement when the employer did not employ anyone in the relevant bargaining unit. The court held that the Ohio district court did not err in adopting the so-called single-employee unit rule, which allows an employer to repudiate statutory and contractual obligations under an 8(f) agreement, when the employer has no more than one permanent worker. Baker Concrete Construction Inc. v. Reinforced Concrete Contractors Assoc.. |
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| While the NLRB ruled that several of a Michigan’s hospital’s workplace rules regarding interactions were unlawful, one Board member stated that it might be time to revise the decade-old test for evaluating such rules. The split three-member panel concluded that the hospital’s code of conduct rules, including those that impede relationship and interactions, and those that barred negative or disparaging comments of employees or physicians, violated the NLRA. The Board held that the employees “would reasonably construe” the provision to prohibit protected activities under the Act. Board member Philip Miscimarra dissented, stating that the time has come to abandon the standard, because there was no evidence that the rule actually discouraged or interfered with NLRA-protected activity. He likewise stated that the standard failed to take into account any legitimate justifications for policies and tends to overturn neutral rules when they are somewhat ambiguous. William Beaumont Hospital and Jeri Antilla. |
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| The NLRB declined to review a representation election where 700 janitorial workers employed by Airway Cleaners LLC – which contracts with airlines at JFK International Airport – chose representation by the SEIU over incumbent union, the United Workers of America Local 660 (UWA). The UWA contested the results of the election, alleging that the NLRB’s jurisdiction over the election was called into question following its decision in Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., which set out standard for when two entities can be joint employer. UWA had argued that Airway may be a joint employer with the airline carrier, making it exempt from the NLRB’s jurisdiction and subject to the Railway Labor Act. Airway Cleaners LLC. |
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| Speaking at the annual legislative conference for North America’s Building Trades Unions, Hillary Clinton vowed, if elected, to fight attacks against prevailing wage laws, protect labor agreements, oppose efforts to bring about a national right-to-work law, and remain a “champion” for organized labor. |
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| President Obama re-nominated NLRB member Kent Y. Hirozawa to a five-year term expiring in 2021. Hirozawa is serving the final months of his first term on the Board. Hirozawa’s nomination is part of a deal Obama struck with the Senate to avert filibuster on two executive branch nominees, which called for Obama to withdraw recess appointments and select two new Board members, including Hirozawa, who the senate agreed to move swiftly through confirmation. |
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| Teamsters, as well as other unions, urged Congress to support two pieces of pension legislation and to oppose a request to cut benefits currently before the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department has until May 7 to approve or deny the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Area Pension Fund’s, a multiemployer fund, request to reduce benefits to roughly 400,000 Teamsters-represented workers and retirees. The fund sponsors claim that the cuts would rescue the fund from insolvency. The fund is the first multiemployer fund to seek approval of a rescue plan under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA), passed in 2014, generally intended to save ailing pension funds by giving administrators the power to reduce benefits. The fund states that expected payouts exceed contributions by more than $2 billion. The union is urging Congress to support the Keep Our Pension Promises Act, which would repeal the MPRA’s benefit cutback provision. Members are also asking Congress to support the Pension Accountability Act, which does have some bipartisan support, and would allow majority of plan participants and beneficiaries who cast a vote, to stop a proposed pension cut. |
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| Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-Ala) submitted a joint resolution calling for a Congressional Review Act (CRA) challenge to the DOL persuader rule. The rule expands reporting requirements under Section 203 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, requiring employers to disclose the hiring of a third-party attorney or other consultant to prevent its employees form organizing. See DOL Issues Final Persuader Rule for more information. The CRA allows Congress to block regulations though a joint resolution of disapproval passed by both chambers, giving Congress 60 legislative days to review the rules, during which time the regulation cannot go into effect. |
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| The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 234-183, in favor of a resolution intended to block the DOL’s “fiduciary rule” from going into effect. The resolution would formally disapprove of the DOL’s recent redefinition of “fiduciary” under ERISA to include investment advisers. The White House has backed the fiduciary rule, and President Obama will likely veto the resolution. See DOL Issues New Fiduciary Rule Under ERISA and New and Amended Class Prohibited Transaction Exemptions. |
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| According to Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas), republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have asserted that they will once again try to block the NLRB’s recent joint employer ruling in Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. The Board expanded joint employer liability under federal labor by holding that a business may be liable as a joint employer if it indirectly controls an employment relationship or has reserved the right to do so. See NLRB Adopts New Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status for more information on Browning-Ferris. |
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| AFL-CIO leaders and several other labor and immigration rights groups planned to hold rallies across the U.S. on May 1, International Workers Day, to protect what they view as racist and xenophobic campaign rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Union representatives stated that immigrant workers are being “aggressively attacked” by the candidates, including by stating that they would repeal deferred action for childhood arrivals. |
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| Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, signed into law the GOP-backed Senate Bill 644 which will require independent fiscal analysis of government employee unions. The governor stated that he signed the legislation as part of a broader push for transparency. Democrats in both houses voted overwhelmingly against the bill. The bill tasks the states Independent Fiscal Office with conducting a cost analysis of all public sector union bargaining agreements. Fourteen contracts, covering some 44,600 state employees and about $3 billion in costs to the state, are set to expire at the end of June. |
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| Teamsters local union member James Deamicis a/k/a “Jimmy the Bull” was sentenced to a year in prison for conspiring with other union members and threatening businesses if they did not give jobs to union members. He had faced the possibility of 46 to 57 months in prison under sentencing guidelines and prosecutors asked that he serve 57 months. He also must repay roughly $40,000 that he fraudulently collected in unemployment benefits. |
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| Former UAW official Danny Rawls was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,208 for concealing acts of theft in financial records of the Shreveport local. The U.S. Labor Department’s office of Labor-Management Standard charged Rawls and UAW local Vice President Gregory Hill with embezzlement totaling more than $12,000. |
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| SAG-AFTRA announced that Gabrielle Carteris, known for her role on Beverly Hills 90210, would be the new union president. She was elected after former president, Ken Howard, passed away. Carteris will serve until August 2017, when Howard’s term was set to expire. |
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April 29, 2016 |
| Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act Awaits President’s Signature |
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| April 28, 2016 |
| California Court of Appeals Creates a New Disability Cause of Action, Spurring Worries for Employers |
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| April 26, 2016 |
| DOL Issues New Fiduciary Rule Under ERISA and New and Amended Class Prohibited Transaction Exemptions |
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| April 14, 2016 |
| San Francisco Passes Second Vote On Paid Parental Leave Ordinance |
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| April 13, 2016 |
| California Increases Paid Family Leave Rates Statewide |
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| April 6, 2016 |
| New York & California Legislation Update: NYC Amends Paid Sick Leave Rules; New York Budget Includes Paid Sick Leave and Wage Minimum Increases; California Enacts $15 Minimum Wage |
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| April 5, 2016 |
| Employers: Are You Sitting Down? New California Supreme Court Ruling Clarifies Seating Rules |
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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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