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| The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducted 1,377 representation elections in 2013, down slightly from 1,385 in 2012. The union win-rate also stayed essentially the same, with unions winning 882 of representation elections last year, up marginally from 877 wins the year before. In terms of volume, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters) led all unions, participating in 351 representation elections in 2013. But, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organized the most workers of any union, gaining 53,472 members in 2013. Teamsters organized the second most, with 7,179 workers, while the International Association of Machinists (IAM) was third with 3,560. |
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| The SEIU is using a “top-down” strategy in an organizing campaign with the California Hospital Association (CHA), threatening to file a ballot initiative the CHA opposes if the CHA refuses to enter a neutrality agreement. Reportedly, provisions of the neutrality agreement proposed by the SEIU include a three-year deal with access to 60,000 non-union employees and the creation of a $100 million “joint advocacy fund.” The CHA has countered by offering a five-year deal with access to 50,000 workers and a $60 million contribution into the joint fund with the other $40 million coming from the union. |
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| A majority of service contractors working at New York City airports signed “commitment cards” indicating support for SEIU representation. The cards are intended to send a message to employers, but have no legal impact. Of the 6,100 contractors targeted by the SEIU, 4,051 signed cards or are already members. Roughly 3,300 of the non-targeted employees are already members of another local or union. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airports, supports higher wages and benefits for airport service contractors. |
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| Employees at six New York City Verizon Wireless stores voted 39-19 for representation by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). These employees are the first of Verizon Wireless’s 40,000 hourly employees to unionize. The CWA and Verizon previously had a card check agreement between 2000 and 2004, but all organizing efforts during that period failed. |
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| Adjunct faculty at Northeastern University voted 323-286 in favor of representation by the SEIU. The 932-member bargaining unit victory is the third SEIU win among adjunct faculty at Boston-area colleges in the last seven months. The union now represents roughly 21,000 adjunct faculty members nationwide. |
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| Adjunct instructors at the San Francisco Art Institute also voted (124-35) to be represented by the SEIU, following the example of 138 instructors at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. The SEIU and instructors at Mills College are preparing to begin negotiating their first bargaining agreement, and the instructors at the San Francisco Art Institute will next elect a bargaining team and conduct a bargaining survey to determine contract priorities. At the Art Institute, an adjunct’s starting salary is capped at $22,000 annually, and salary increases are discretionary. |
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| Drivers for Uber, an app-based transportation service, have formed the App-Based Drivers Association and affiliated with the Teamsters. The Seattle group also elected a leadership council of seven members, which will meet to establish a mission statement and organizational goals. A Teamsters spokesperson said that the independent contractor drivers were unhappy with Uber’s compensation system, failure to pay for sufficient liability insurance, and alleged failure to follow laws and regulations. Drivers were also concerned with Uber’s practice of ending driver partnerships with no warning or appeal process. |
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| An NLRB regional director determined that resident physicians at New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center were employees, clearing the way for a Committee of Interns and Residents (an affiliate of SEIU) representation election among 410 interns, residents, chief residents, and fellows in the proposed bargaining unit. In reaching this decision, the regional director distinguished the residents from graduate students whose work is a required part of their degree, and rejected the hospital’s contention that modern residents are “learners who perform less actual patient care.” |
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| SEIU organizers estimate that “thousands” of fast food workers in 150 cities across six continents participated in the 10th and largest walkout protest in their ongoing campaign to raise wages to $15 per hour. Despite the series of walkouts, no major fast food company has opened negotiations with the organizers. The companies, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Yum Brands, owner of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, responded that they provide hundreds of thousands of entry level jobs each year, complete with training and development, and that the campaign hurts independent small businesses that own and operate individual franchises. |
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| Three hundred Teamsters working at a Pepsi Co. distribution facility in Indianapolis, Ind. Announced that they would be going on strike after the union rejected the company’s latest five-year contract offer. The union says health care and retirement costs remain at issue in negotiations between the two sides. |
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| Local 8 Carpenters at the Pennsylvania Convention center are on strike after contract negotiations fell apart with the center’s management. No further negotiations are currently scheduled between the two sides, and a spokesperson for the center stated that it was unlikely an agreement would be reached in the near future. |
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| Mothers who work at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are encouraged to strike nationwide during the week of June 2, to coincide with the annual shareholders’ meeting on June 6. Making Change at Walmart organizers are calling for mothers to participate in strikes led by the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart), a volunteer coalition of workers. The strike is scheduled to take place in more than 20 cities nationwide. Both Making Change at Walmart and OUR Walmart receive support from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The groups are seeking to improve working conditions for the company’s hourly workers, including guaranteed annual pay of $25,000, and schedules that allow mothers to work 40 hours a week. |
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| An analysis of data compiled by Bloomberg BNA through the end of May showed that the average first-year wage increase for all settlements was 1.2 percent, while the median increase was 2.0 percent. For the same period in 2013, both the median and average first-year wage increase was 2.0 percent. Excluding construction, state, and local government, the settlements averages showed an average increase of 2.2 percent and a median increase of 2.5 percent, compared with 2.5 and 2.0 percent in 2013, respectively. |
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| When lump-sum payments were factored into the wage calculations, the all-settlements average for first-year increases was 2.2 percent and the median was 2.0 percent compared with 2.5 and 2.0 percent in 2013, respectively. Excluding construction, state and local government, the average increase was 2.8 percent and the median was 2.7 percent, compared with a 3.5 and 2.5 percent increase in 2013, respectively. Manufacturing settlements increased by an average of 4.2 percent with a median increase of 3.0 percent compared with 2.8 and 2.5 percent in 2013, respectively. |
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| According to Labour Canada statistics, collective bargaining agreements reached in the first quarter of 2014 resulted in average wage increases of 0.7 percent, significantly less than the 1.5 average in the fourth quarter of 2013 and the 2.4 percent increase in the third quarter of 2013. On a sectoral basis, the largest average wage growth was in wholesale and retail trade, education, health and social services, and construction. |
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| SEIU Local 32BJ ratified a four-year contract covering 30,000 apartment-building workers in New York City. Among other provisions, the agreement includes an annual wage increase of 2.71 percent, or 11.3 percent over its term, and maintains existing health care coverage and retirement benefits. |
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| Alcoa and the United Steel Workers (Steelworkers) agreed to a new five-year contract for 6,100 employees at 10 plants in Warrick and Lafayette, Ind.; Point Comfort and Rock Springs, Texas; Davenport, Iowa; Badin, N.C.; Alcoa, Tenn.; Wenatchee, Wash.; Massena, N.Y., and Gum Springs, Ark. The contract guarantees raises of 2.5 percent for each of the first three years and 3 percent for the final two years, retains pensions and health care premium rates (except for a new out-of-pocket maximum for prescription drugs of $3,000 for individuals or $6,000 for a family), and offers new employees pensions rather than 401(k) plans. Alcoa gained flexibility in instituting layoffs, up to 35 employees at a time. If the contract is ratified by June 15, all employees accruing pension service will receive a $1,000 signing bonus. The contract carries the unanimous endorsement of all Steelworkers local presidents and is expected to receive ratification within two weeks. |
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| United Auto Workers (UAW) Locals 5285, 5286, and 3520 ratified a four-year contract with Daimler Trucks covering roughly 4,500 auto workers in three North Carolina parts manufacturing plants. The contract introduces a voluntary employee benefit association (VEBA), a $7,000 ratification bonus, and increases wages for the first time in five years. In years one and three of the contract, workers will receive 3 percent hourly wage increases, while in years two and four, workers will receive a 3 percent lump-sum bonus. The contract also raises the night shift premium to 70 cents and introduces an attendance bonus program where employees may receive up to $450 per quarter. The VEBA, beginning January 1, 2015, will implement a modified retiree medical plan covering future retirees, current retirees (with court approval), and eligible spouses and dependents. Under the VEBA funding plan, Daimler will contribute $480 million plus $2.05 per hour worked by an eligible employee until 2049. As of the ratification date, Daimler has exhausted the recall lists for all three locals and is hiring new employees. |
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| Voting 2,766 to 496, Teamsters members at 12 breweries operated by Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement covering 4,500 employees. Under the agreement, the average worker’s base wage begins at $30 per hour and rises to $32.40 per hour over five years. All workers will also receive a $2,500 ratification bonus. |
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| Members of the Writers Guild of America voted to ratify a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, with more than 98 percent of votes cast in favor of the pact. The agreement covers 8,200 writers and includes annual minimum compensation rate increases, increased pension contributions, and a doubling of the theatrical script publication fee. |
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| UNITE HERE affiliate members ratified a five-year agreement with the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, covering 1,200 hotel casino employees. The terms provide that employees will continue to receive family health care coverage without paycheck deductions, as well as introducing new safety provisions for housekeepers and work-rule flexibility in distressed venues. |
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| Members of IAM ratified a revised five-year agreement with L-3 Communications Army Fleet Support LLC in Fort Rucker, Ala., covering 2,924 helicopter maintenance, training, and service personnel. Terms of the pact include a 2 percent annual wage increase, annual increases in employer pension contributions, and slight increases in employee health care premiums over the life of the contract. |
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| Metal Trades Council (MTC) members voted 1,306 to 277 to ratify a 65-month contract covering 2,200 workers. Under the agreement, wages will increase by 3 percent in 2014 and 2015, followed by a 3.5 percent annual increase for each of the next three years. Workers who are at least age 62 can opt to take a voluntary $25,000 severance package. Concessions by the union under the deal include the loss of pensions for first-year employees, as well as a rise in weekly health insurance premiums for all workers. |
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| Transport Workers Union Local 100 members ratified a retroactive five-year contract settlement covering 3,400 New York City Transit Authority Workers. The contract was unanimously approved by the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after 82 percent of the voting members approved the deal. The contract provides for an immediate 4 percent wage increase, full retroactive pay and new health care benefits. Contract talks with unions representing Long Island Rail Road Co. workers remain unresolved. |
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| Members of the UFCW ratified a bargaining agreement covering 60,000 workers at Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons supermarket chains in Southern California. Workers had been under a series of extensions since a previous contract expired in early May. A federal mediator assisted in the negotiation discussions. Details of the new agreements are not yet disclosed. |
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| UFCW Local 655 reached a tentative agreement with St. Louis grocery chains, covering 9,000 workers at Schnuck Markets Inc., Dierbergs stores, and Shop ‘n Save stores. The union sought to ensure continuation of workers’ employment, maintain health care benefits, maintain retirement benefits, and increase earnings. The exact terms of the contract are undisclosed. |
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| UNITE HERE affiliates Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 reached a tentative agreement with Boyd Gaming Corp., covering 725 casino hotel employees at the Fremont Hotel and Casino and Main Street Station Casino Brewery and Hotel in Las Vegas. The five-year contract was reached five days before an announced strike. Under the terms of the contract, employees will continue to receive family health care coverage without paycheck deductions. The agreement also includes new safety provisions for housekeepers and increased employer contributions to the union health and welfare benefit fund. |
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| UNITE HERE affiliates and the El Cortez Hotel and Casino came to a tentative agreement on a five-year contract days before the Las Vegas workers were scheduled to strike. The agreement covers 212 food and beverage workers, guest room attendants, bell department workers, porters and other non-gaming employees. The contract terms, which track the provisions of contracts reached with the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, the Fremont Hotel and Casino and the Main Street Station Casino Brewery and Hotel, provide for continued health care coverage without paycheck deductions, new safety provisions and a program allowing for rule flexibility in closed and distressed venues. |
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| United Continental Holdings Inc. reached a tentative agreement with the two unions representing dispatchers at both United Airlines and Continental Airlines. The agreement, which is to cover 330 dispatchers, remains subject to ratification. No details of the tentative agreement have been disclosed. |
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| Members of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, ratified a three-year agreement with Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., covering about 1,000 nurses. Union members voted to ratify the agreement on May 22. The agreement provides for reduced nurse-patient ratios for medical-surgical, telemetry, and oncology nurses. Nurses will receive wage increases of 2.5 percent in the first year, followed by 2 percent increases in both of the last two years, and will receive a 1 percent step increase each year. This amounts to an average wage increase of 9.87 percent over the three years, as the average hourly wage for a registered nurse is $37.50 per hour and case managers make an average of $38.50 per hour. Health care premium contribution increases will be capped at 1 percent, down from 2.5 percent in the previous agreement. Workers who self-identify as smokers will be charged $25 each pay period. |
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| Sergio Marchionne, chairman and chief executive officer of Chrysler Group and Chairman of Fiat SpA, has stated that he wants to begin negotiations with the UAW before the expiration of their collective bargaining agreement in September 2015. Marchionne says he wants to end the two-tier wage structure that was negotiated in 2007. One approach for returning to a single wage level would be to grandfather the tier one employees who earn higher wages, then build from the two-tier structure. |
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| A three-member presidential emergency board (PEB) selected the final contract offer from an eight union labor coalition representing 5,800 workers for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in an ongoing dispute with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). This non-binding ruling left the parties with 60 days to settle their four-year contract dispute before a planned strike on July 20. The plan is identical to one approved by a separate PEB in 2013, but rejected by the MTA. The two parties remain in conflict on several points. The PEB-approved plan calls for a 17 percent wage increase from June 2010 to June 2016, while the MTA seeks an 11 percent increase. The MTA seeks to increase contributions to its pension plan to 5.2 percent of worker pay, almost double what employees currently pay. The coalition plan calls for a certification bonus of $10 per full shift to certified conductors. Finally, the MTA calls for a 2.0 percent wage contribution to health coverage costs while the union seeks to initially increase those costs by 1 percent and then add an additional .25 percent each year until reaching 2.25 percent in 2016. Although the MTA’s offer contains identical terms to its contract with unionized subway and bus employees, the PEB found that the offer contained significantly different value for the LIRR employees. |
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| A divided NLRB upheld election results certifying a Teamsters local as the bargaining representative for a unit of Florida bus drivers. The Board found that the Teamsters’ use of employee photographs with captions misrepresenting their voting intention was permissible as voters could recognize campaign propaganda for what it was. The Board affirmed that it would not set aside an election unless the use of forged documents left voters unable to recognize rhetoric as campaign propaganda. The Board’s lone dissenter called for changing the standard to make it objectionable for a union to disclose how employees intend to vote. Durham Sch. Servs. |
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| The NLRB upheld an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) decision that an employee’s referral to an employer as a “Ponzi scheme” in a local newspaper was not considered an “extraordinary event.” Therefore, the comments did not relieve the employer of its duty to offer reinstatement after the illegal discharge of the employee for engaging in concerted activity. The NLRB admonished that reinstatement will be deemed inappropriate only in extreme circumstances, citing cases involving an employee issuing illegal threats or striking a supervisor with a car. The Fund for the Public Interest. |
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| An NLRB ALJ held that Boeing engaged in an unfair labor practice by taking pictures and videos of roughly 300 workers marching in support of union demands for a new contract. Although Boeing did not discipline any participants, the ALJ found that recording the march violated Section 8(a)(1) because it had a chilling effect on the employee’s exercise of National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) rights and that Boeing lacked a reasonable objective basis to justify recording the non-disruptive march. In addition, the ALJ found that a Boeing policy prohibiting employees from taking pictures or videos at work violated the NLRA because it prevented employees from documenting NLRA protected activity. Boeing Co. |
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| An NLRB ALJ ruled that a Hooters franchise unlawfully fired a waitress after she complained about an allegedly rigged bikini contest. After losing the mandatory bikini contest, the employee engaged in a profane argument with another employee and was subsequently fired. The ALJ found Hooters’ reason for terminating the employee – initially, Hooters claimed she was terminated for the profanity and then changed its reasoning to “negative social media posts” – to be pretext while the employer looked for an opportunity to fire her for complaining about the contest. In addition, the ALJ struck down nine handbook provisions, including a policy forbidding workers from discussing their tips, a policy broadly prohibiting insubordination, and non-disclosure language that the ALJ found to be so broad that employees could reasonably believe they were unable to discuss wage and salary information. Finally, the ALJ also applied the NLRB’s controversial D.R. Horton analysis in striking down a mandatory arbitration agreement that waived the right to bring class claims. Hoot Winc, LLC and Ontario Wings, LLC d/b/a/ Hooters of Ontario Mills. View our client briefing, NLRB Continues to Expand Authority Over Labor Disputes, for more details. |
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| The NLRB upheld a contested vote by nursing assistants at ManorCare of Kingston PA LLC, in favor of the Laborers’ International Union of North America as their bargaining representative. The vote was challenged by Manor Care, which argued that comments made by two employees threatening bodily harm to those who voted against the union warranted a new election. The Board found that the remarks of the employees were intended as a joke and did not rise to the level of objectionable third party threats sufficient to set aside the election results. ManorCare of Kingston PA, LLC. |
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| Salem Hospital Corp. of New Jersey lost an appeal before the NLRB, affirming an earlier determination that the hospital had violated the collective bargaining agreement with its employees by unilaterally altering the hospital dress code. The Board found that the hospital’s policy change had a major financial impact on its employees, and that implementing such changes without seeking employee input violated the collective bargaining agreement. Salem Hosp. Corp. |
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| The NLRB held that a California nursing home violated federal labor law by restricting the off duty access of employees to the employer’s premises without supervisor permission. The SEIU, representing nursing home employees, challenged the policy of American Baptist Homes of the West, which operates the Piedmont Gardens Home. The Board held that the policy, which gave supervisors unlimited and standardless discretion to determine permissible access to the workplace for off duty employees, violated the NLRA. Piedmont Gardens. |
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| The New York Court of Appeals held that a school’s concern for the safety of students outweighed the free speech rights of picketing teachers who blocked the school’s drop off zone while displaying protest signs from their parked cars. A 5-2 majority of the court found that the protest forced students to walk in the rain and between parked cars, creating a potential risk to student safety that outweighed the First Amendment value of the teacher’s protest. Santer v. Bd. of Ed. of E. Meadow. |
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| The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that neither the NLRA nor the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) preempts Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act claims when criminal activity is alleged. Four former union employees claimed they were fired after filing a report with the United States Department of Labor, raising concerns about the misappropriation of union funds. The court majority held the LMRDA recognizes a strong state interest in protecting against criminal conduct, and a union employer’s discretion in employment matters is limited where allegations of criminal wrongdoing are involved. Further the court found that the NLRA will not preempt state law where the regulated activity is merely a peripheral concern of the NLRA, or where regulated conduct touches interests that are deeply rooted in local feeling and responsibility. Henry v. Laborers Local 1191. |
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| The NLRB overturned an ALJ ruling in favor of a group of workers at a Brooklyn condo complex who argued that union representation termination letters should not be held invalid because they were submitted early. UAW Local 621 claimed it never received proper termination letters from the workers because the NLRB did not officially recognize the decertification vote until 10 days after the letters were sent to the union. As a result, the workers were required to pay a year’s worth of membership dues after termination. The NLRB ruling upheld payment of the dues, holding that premature revocations of dues check-off authorizations do not become valid upon certification of de-authorization election results. United Workers of Am. |
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| The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit declined to reconsider challenges to a Wisconsin law that restricted the ability of government workers to collectively bargain. In April, a three-judge panel for the Seventh Circuit found that Wisconsin’s Act 10, passed in 2011, did not proscribe union conduct but instead restricted government employers from creating collective bargaining agreements based on anything but workers’ base wages. The panel noted that the unions were not prohibited from forming, meeting, or advocating and did not violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Two unions, Laborers Local 236 and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 60, petitioned for rehearing and a rehearing en banc, which the Seventh Circuit denied. Laborers Local 236 v. Scott Walker. |
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| The NLRB, along with the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Justice, argued in a statement to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee that the UAW and Volkswagen AG did not violate the LMRA by agreeing to routine ground rules during the union’s organizing campaign at VW’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. After workers voted against the union in February 2014, anti-union workers filed suit against UAW and VW, arguing that VW violated the LMRA’s anti-bribery provisions by providing things of value to the union, including allowing the union to use VW property for organizing activities, remaining neutral during the campaign, and conducting employee meetings with the union during employees’ work hours. The federal agencies argued that the LMRA does not apply to an organizing ground rules agreement and argued that only government entities may seek injunctions for violation of the anti-bribery provisions. On May 23, the employees who brought the case withdrew the lawsuit. Burton v. Int’l Union United Automobile Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of Am. UAW. |
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| The UFCW Local 23 sued a Giant Eagle grocery store in Edinboro, Penn. after the store raised the wages of 25 high performing employees above their union rates. The union argued that the pay increases violated the parties’ collective bargaining agreement by upending their seniority-based pay scale. The union filed a grievance and an arbitrator ruled in the union’s favor and ordered the company to revoke the raises. The store appealed in federal district court, but the court refused to vacate the arbitrator’s decision. Giant Eagle Inc. v. United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 23. |
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| The NLRB upheld an ALJ’s findings that a nursing home management company violated the NLRA when it banned workers from wearing union stickers and removed union fliers from six facilities. The presumption that bans on wearing union insignia in patient care areas is valid was not applicable because the prohibition was selectively enforced against the union sticker, which stated the company had been “busted” for violating the NLRA. HealthBridge Management LLC. |
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| A used car dealership in Arizona was ordered to reinstate a salesman who was fired after he used profanity when bringing his concerns to the business owner. The NLRB found that the salesman did not engage in menacing, physically aggressive behavior or belligerent conduct, and therefore did not lose the protection of the NLRA. The salesman raised concerns about the company’s refusal to grant lunch and restroom breaks, its failure to pay hourly minimum wages, and its low commissions. The owner told him he did not need to work there, and the salesman pushed his chair aside, berated the owner, and said the owner would regret it if he fired the salesman. The ALJ found that the salesman’s termination did not violate the NLRA, because his aggressive actions and statements were not protected. The NLRB reversed, finding the employee’s conduct was not so severe as to lose protection under the Board’s traditional Atlantic Steel factors, including the place of the discussion, its subject matter, the nature of the outburst, and whether the outburst was provoked by perceived unfair labor practices. Plaza Auto Ctr. |
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| The NLRB’s Division of Advice released a memorandum finding that a New York school teaching English as a second language was not required to negotiate with the union before issuing warning letters to several teachers. Because the warnings did not have an immediate effect on the teachers’ tenure, status or earnings, the warnings did not trigger a duty of preimposition bargaining required under NLRB precedent set in Alan Richey, Inc. The memorandum concluded that the unfair labor charge against the employer should be dismissed or withdrawn. Kaplan Int’l Ctrs. |
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| The NLRB invited briefing regarding its joint-employer standard in a decision involving the Teamsters’ attempt to organize a recycling facility’s workers employed through a staffing subcontractor. Under the current standard, established in TLI, Inc., joint employer status is determined by looking at whether each entity meaningfully affects the terms and conditions of employment. NLRB Acting Regional Director George Velastegui determined that the facility did not retain sufficient authority to be considered a joint-employer and therefore was not obligated to bargain with the Teamsters. The Teamsters argued that the recycling facility controls the employees’ hours, wages, working conditions, and productivity standards, and therefore should be considered a joint-employer with the subcontractor. Parties and interested amici can file briefs before June 26, 2014 . Browning-Ferris Indus. of California, Inc. |
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| The NLRB invited briefing on a recommendation made by the NLRB’s General Counsel that the Board’s Register Guard decision be overturned. Register Guard holds that employees do not have a statutory right to use employer email systems for personal use. Under this precedent, an ALJ ruled that employer Purple Communications did not violate the NLRA by maintaining a policy prohibiting employees from using its electronic equipment and systems for personal use. The General Counsel and CWA have urged the Board to overturn Register Guard and adopt a rule that employees have the right to use their employer’s email network for Section 7 activity if they can use it for work purposes, subject to the employer’s need to maintain production and discipline. Briefs may be filed by parties or interested amici on or before June 16, 2014 . Purple Communications, Inc. |
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| NLRB General Counsel Richard Griffin released a memorandum stating that the NLRB plans to pursue injunctions under Section 10(j) of the NLRA to combat unfair labor practices relating to successor employers’ refusal to bargain with unions. Although Section 10(j) injunctions are typically used to preserve the status quo during administrative proceedings, the NLRB has recently worked to expand their scope. Although the expansion of Section 10(j) injunctions could lead to abuse by regional NLRB offices – using the threat of injunctions to induce a quick settlement – the memorandum clarifies that injunctions are only justified in egregious cases where a successor employer uses unfair labor practices to undermine an existing union. |
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| The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has entered into a cooperation agreement with the NLRB under which OSHA will notify all complainants who file time-barred whistleblower complaints of their rights to file a charge with the NLRB. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) bars retaliation against workers who complain about safety hazards, but has a statute of limitations of only 30 days. Workers may file an unfair labor charge with the NLRB within six months. To fall under the NLRB’s jurisdiction, an OSH Act claim would have to be concerted. View our client briefing, NLRB Continues to Expand Authority Over Labor Disputes, for more details. |
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| The NLRB’s semiannual regulatory agenda identified just one issue—proposed changes in representation case procedures. This issue has been under Board consideration for nearly three years. The changes were initially suggested in June 2011, with a two-member Board majority. In December 2011, two members gave final approval to some of the Board proposals, but in 2012, a federal district court, in Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB, found the action invalid because the Board lacked the necessary quorum of three members. In 2014, the Board agreed to drop an appeal of the court ruling, but issued a new notice of proposed rulemaking with the same changes in the 2011 proposal. View our client briefing, NLRB Proposes Amendments to Union Election Rules, for more details. |
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| House Democrats demanded that U.S. trade negotiators include more worker protections as part of the ongoing trade talks with Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia, and Brunei. The talks about being held on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would expand the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, ratified in 2005, to expand the trade zone to 12 nations. Democrats want the U.S. negotiators to insist on strong, enforceable pans to protect the free association and collective bargaining rights of workers, as well as to ensure safe working conditions and fair wages. 153 House members and all Democrats signed the letter to the U.S. Trade Representative. |
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| Eight former members of the International Longshoremen’s Association pleaded guilty to extortion charges. Vincent “The Vet” Aulisi, Thomas “Tommy” Leondaris, Robert “Bobby” Ruiz, Salvatore LaGrasso, Michael Nicolosi, Julio Porrao, Rocco Ferrandino, and Michael Trueba were among 15 defendants charged in a broad labor racketeering indictment relating to a scheme in which the defendants used “actual and threatened force, violence, and fear” to extort money from longshoremen’s year-end compensation from shippers using New York and New Jersey ports. Charges are still pending against three other defendants, including lead defendant Stephen Depiro. Depiro is an alleged soldier in the Genovese organized crime family who have allegedly extorted port workers for nearly 30 years. |
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| Ronald Karr, former secretary-treasurer of IBEW Local 2359 in Sugar Grove, Ohio, was ordered to pay a fine of $4,000 and serve two years of probation by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Karr had previously pled guilty to embezzling $158,150 in union funds from January 2006 to February 2011. Karr used the money to pay for repairs to his personal vehicle, to buy a rifle, an enclosed trailer, and more than 200 purchases at Walmart. He already paid full restitution. |
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| A former financial secretary of UAW Local 3061 in Crestline, Ohio, was ordered to serve 18 months in prison and make full restitution of the more than $150,000 she admitted embezzling from the union. The Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards and Office of Inspector General conducted a joint investigation and found that Kristie McClarren used the union’s debit card to make unauthorized cash withdrawals and personal purchases. McClarren plead guilty to embezzlement on January 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. |
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| Members of the IAM at 800 local lodges in the United States and Canada voted in a mandatory special election to reelect incumbent leadership candidates. R. Thomas Buffenbarger, the incumbent candidate for international president, earned 23,345 votes, to reform candidate Jay Kronk’s 11,163 votes. Incumbent general secretary-treasurer Robert Roach Jr. defeated Dale Cancienne by a similar margin of 23,828 to 10,690. The reform candidates have submitted a protest to the Department of Labor, alleging that the incumbents used union funds to support their campaign. |
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| June 12, 2014 |
| California Laws for Non-California Employers - What In-house Lawyers Need to Know eLunch |
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| July 17, 2014 |
| Wage & Hour Update eLunch |
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| August 14, 2014 |
| Executive Compensation Issues Update - New Rules eLunch |
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| September 18, 2014 |
| Employment Issues for Growing Companies eLunch |
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May 28, 2014 |
| NLRB Continues to Expand Authority Over Labor Disputes |
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| May 19, 2014 |
| Maryland Bans Gender Identity Discrimination in Employment |
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| May 19, 2014 |
| Minnesota Passes Employment Legislation for Women |
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| May 16, 2014 |
| Pennsylvania Superior Court Rejects Non-Compete: Rules Agreement With Existing Employee Needs Additional Consideration |
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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 attorneys listed here: |
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