Howard M. BloomBlog Posts
NLRB Allows Decertification Process to Proceed During Certification Year Extension PeriodThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled an employee’s effort to decertify his union could proceed, despite a previous agreement between the employer and union extending the time during which decertification petitions are barred. Pinnacle Foods, 368 NLRB No. 97 (Oct. 21, 2019). An employee filed a petition to decertify his union after the expiration of the “certification year,” the... Continue ReadingDecember 6, 2019 |
Employee Advocacy for Nonemployee, Unpaid Interns Is Not Protected by National Labor Relations ActUnpaid interns are not “employees” as defined by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and employee advocacy on their behalf is not protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the NLRA, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. Amnesty International of the USA, Inc., 368 NLRB No. 112 (Nov. 12, 2019). The NLRB also... Continue ReadingDecember 3, 2019 |
Board Revisits Recusal RulesThe National Labor Relations Board has issued its “Ethics Recusal Report,” which announces several process changes that may add new wrinkles to practice before the Board. Much of the Report, dated November 19, 2019, is minutiae and insider information regarding existing methods of identifying ethical conflicts. In 2018, the NLRB faced a high-profile ethical crisis.... Continue ReadingNovember 25, 2019 |
Seventh Circuit Declines to Award Damages to Victorious Janus PlaintiffAn employee who paid “fair share” union fees under protest is not entitled to damages to refund any of the money he paid the union, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held. Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, No. 19-1553 (Nov. 4, 2019). The Court explained fair share fees were “an... Continue ReadingNovember 20, 2019 |
NLRB Advice Memo: Lack of Coworker Support Does Not Render Pay Complaints UnprotectedAn employee’s complaints about his pay to coworkers was protected concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), even though the employee was unsuccessful in enlisting any other employees to support his complaints, the Advice Division of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Office of the General Counsel has decided. Therefore, the NLRB found... Continue ReadingNovember 15, 2019 |
‘Vague’ Savings Clause Insufficient to Save Arbitration Agreement Limiting Employees’ Access to NLRBAn arbitration agreement requiring that all “claims or controversies in any way relating to or associated with … employment or the termination of … employment … will be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration,” including “all statutory… claims” violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. The Board, applying... Continue ReadingNovember 11, 2019 |
Labor Board: Unions Waived Right to Bargain Over Changes to Retiree Medical BenefitsThe National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that an employer did not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when it unilaterally changed retirees’ medical benefits without first negotiating with the unions that represented its employees. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., 368 NLRB No. 48 (Sept. 4, 2019). The NLRB found the... Continue ReadingOctober 15, 2019 |
NLRB: Wildcat Strike Loses NLRA Protection Following Employee Knowledge of Union Disavowal, DisapprovalA wildcat strike was not protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) once the striking employees became aware that their union disapproved of and disavowed the strike, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled. CC1 Limited Partnership d/b/a Coca Cola Puerto Rico Bottlers, 368 NLRB No. 84 (Sept. 30, 2019). The employees’ continued... Continue ReadingOctober 15, 2019 |
Running Backs NLRB Petition Seeks To “Stiff Arm” NFL Players Association With New Bargaining UnitAn upstart labor organization, the International Brotherhood of Professional Running Backs (IBPRB), has filed a petition with Region 13, the Chicago office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), seeking to form a separate union for the National Football League’s running backs. The unit clarification petition, NLRB Case No. 13-UC-246227, seeks to sever and create...… Continue Reading The post Running Backs NLRB Petition Seeks To “Stiff Arm” NFL Players Association With New Bargaining Unit appeared first on Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Blog.August 28, 2019 |
Supreme Court’s Epic Systems Decision on Arbitration Interpreted Broadly by Labor BoardAn employer may lawfully issue to its employees a new or revised mandatory arbitration agreement containing a class- and collective-action waiver specifying that employment disputes are to be resolved by individualized arbitration, even if it was in response to employees opting into a collective action (such as a wage lawsuit), the National Labor Relations Board...… Continue ReadingAugust 20, 2019 |