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More That’s New in Labor Law

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
04/11/2022
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Union Activity
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...
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NLRB General Counsel Targets "Captive Audience" Meetings

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/08/2022
Agency Activity, Labor Law, Union Activity
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...
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NLRB To Revisit Test for Reviewing Workplace Rules

Garrett Wozniak
Garrett Wozniak
01/12/2022
Labor Law
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.” ...
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NLRB Reconsiders Independent Contractor Test – Again

Clifford Geiger
Clifford Geiger
12/28/2021
Labor Law
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...
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NLRB to Revisit “Micro-units” Test

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/13/2021
Labor Law
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...
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Eric Paltell Presents on Collective Bargaining at Virginia Association of Counties Meeting

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/09/2021
Labor Law, Public Sector Employment Law, Virginia Employment Law
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...
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OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard and Bargaining Obligation

Garrett Wozniak
Garrett Wozniak
11/11/2021
COVID-19, Labor Law, Workplace Safety
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 --...
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NLRB General Counsel Sets Ambitious Agenda

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/17/2021
Agency Activity, Labor Law
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...
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NLRB Hearing Officer Recommends Ordering of New Election in Alabama Distribution Center

Jordan Dunham
Jordan Dunham
08/16/2021
Labor Law, Union Activity
On April 2021, the employees of an Amazon distribution center located in Bessemer, Alabama overwhelmingly voted against representation, much to the dismay of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.  More than half of the nearly 6,000-employee workforce cast votes.  Of those votes, more than two-thirds were tallied against representation. Following the election, the Union filed objections, and a NLRB hearing officer has now delivered her...
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Scabby the Rat Gets a Reprieve from NLRB

Vincent Jackson
Vincent Jackson
02/10/2021
Labor Law
Anyone who has ever passed by a labor protest is no doubt familiar with Scabby the Rat—a large inflatable balloon deployed by unions protesting an employer or contractor who uses non-union labor.   The rat balloons are usually 12 feet tall (sometimes larger), and are grotesque, featuring large teeth and a scabby stomach.  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), under former General  Counsel  Peter Robb, had sought to prohibit Scabby from...
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