“Back to the Salt Mine” Not Anti-Union Threat, Says Third Circuit

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
05/27/2022
On May 20, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued its decision in FDRLST Media, LLC, v. NLRB, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 13664 (3d Cir. May 20, 2022), holding that a non-related party could pursue an unfair labor practice (ULP) claim against the right-leaning online magazine The Federalist. The court also held, however, that no ULP was committed by the editor’s tweet about sending employees back to the “salt mine.”  In...
read more

More (Possible) Labor Pains

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
04/13/2022
Earlier this week I wrote about some developments in labor law.  I thought my second blog would be about something completely different.  But wait, there’s more. On Wednesday, April 12, the NLRB’s General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, through her deputy GC, filed a brief to the Board that claims a former NLRB associate general counsel – in 1969 – “misrepresented controlling board law” in an argument before the U.S. Supreme Court,...
read more

More That’s New in Labor Law

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
04/11/2022
It has been a big last few weeks in labor law circles.  First, Amazon got unionized in New York by a little-known independent union that didn’t even exist 18 months ago.  President Biden expressed support for the unionizing of Amazon workers saying “Amazon, here we come” in a recent speech.   The President, of course, has been and continues to be a strong supporter of unions. But, as reported in the New York Times, “organized labor has...
read more

NLRB General Counsel Targets "Captive Audience" Meetings

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/08/2022
In an April 7, 2022 Memorandum to Regional Directors, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced that she will be asking the NLRB to outlaw so-called "captive audience" meetings.  Captive audience meetings refer to meetings between employers and employees during an employee's paid work time where the employee is required to listen to the employer (or its representative) explain the company's position on unions.  Such meetings have long been...
read more

NLRB To Revisit Test for Reviewing Workplace Rules

Garrett Wozniak
Garrett Wozniak
01/12/2022
In The Boeing Co., 365 NLRB No. 154 (2017), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set a new standard for evaluating the lawfulness of workplace rules under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  The Board has invited briefs on “whether the Board should adopt a new legal standard to apply in cases where an employer’s maintenance of a facially-neutral work rule is alleged to violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.” ...
read more

NLRB Reconsiders Independent Contractor Test – Again

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
12/28/2021
In The Atlanta Opera, N.L.R.B., Case 10-RC-276292, the National Labor Relations Board is primed to reconsider its 2019 decision in SuperShuttle DFW, N.L.R.B., Case 16-RC-010963.  The decision in SuperShuttle, a case involving ride-share franchisees, made it easier for companies to establish that their workers are independent contractors (and not employees) by clarifying and emphasizing that classification as an independent contractor is strongly...
read more

NLRB to Revisit “Micro-units” Test

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/13/2021
On December 7, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) announced that it will revisit the “community of interest” standard for determining an appropriate bargaining unit. American Steel Construction, Inc., 371 NLRB No. 41 (2021). In so doing, the Board expressed a willingness to consider a return to the “micro-units” that were allowed under the Specialty Healthcare standard it overruled in 2017. American Steel Construction...
read more

Eric Paltell Presents on Collective Bargaining at Virginia Association of Counties Meeting

On May 1, 2021, Virginia's new law permitting local governments to enact collective bargaining legislation for employees took effect. On November 15, 2021,  K&S Partner Eric Paltell joined Virginia Senator Jennifer Boysko, Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet, and attorney Cynthia Hudson on a panel discussing the new law at the Virginia Association of Counties Annual Meeting in Norfolk.  Eric's presentation focused on steps...
read more

OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard and Bargaining Obligation

Garrett Wozniak
Garrett Wozniak
11/11/2021
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).  Our summary of the ETS is available here.  On November 6, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the ETS pending further action.  Other challenges to the law have been filed in other federal appellate courts and other suits -- those saying that the ETS does not do enough --...
read more

NLRB General Counsel Sets Ambitious Agenda

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/17/2021
On August 12, 2021, the NLRB’s new General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memo (GC 21-04) signaling plans to reconsider more than 40 decisions of the Trump Board.  The memo also asks for cases in a number of areas not addressed by the Trump Board to be sent to Advice for the purpose of considering whether new standards should be set.  The memo is indicative of an aggressive agenda that will likely see the Board issue a number of pro-labor...
read more
Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Loading