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18 Apr 2017 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of April 3 – 7

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

  The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of April 3-7 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   Saint Xavier University  (13-RC-092296; 365 NLRB No. 54)  Chicago, IL, April 6, 2017.   The Board (Members Pearce and McFerran; Acting Chairman Miscimarra, dissenting) found that the Board has jurisdiction over housekeepers employed by the Employer, a self-identified religious educational institution.  Applying Hanna Boys Center, 284 NLRB 1080 (1987), the Board found that it will…

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17 Apr 2017 NLRB Invalidates Another Employer Arbitration Agreement – But NOT Under D.R. Horton

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  On April 13, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidated yet another employer arbitration program. This time, however, the NLRB did not do so under its infamous D.R. Horton case. In Dish Network, LLC, the NLRB struck down an arbitration agreement an employer used with its workforce because: 1) as drafted, employees would reasonably construe it as limiting or prohibiting them from filing charges with the NLRB; and 2) a confidentiality provision within the…

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14 Apr 2017 Tax Breaks for Union Members Despite New York’s Financial Problems

Unions and Union Membership | Keith Brodie

  New York’s Legislature is giving union dues payers a tax break. While a number of states (and even municipalities) have passed right-to-work laws so union workers do not have to forcibly pay union dues, New York has taken a decidedly different approach. On April 10, New York passed a law allowing union dues and agency fees to be completely tax deductible, effectively giving a tax break to union members.   New York’s union “dues deduction”…

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13 Apr 2017 Purple Communications NLRB Decision Teed Up for Appeal?

National Labor Relations Board | Gerald Lutkus

  In a curious brief decision last week, the NLRB determined Purple Communications Inc. had conceded that there existed no “special circumstances” justifying its corporate email policy. As a result, the board entered an order confirming that the company’s email policy violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).   As you may remember from a previous post, the NLRB’s 2014 decision in Purple Communications set off a bit of a firestorm when the board concluded…

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07 Apr 2017 A Dancer With an Attitude? Fired Vegas Show Dancer Pursues Workers’ Rights

National Labor Relations Board | Jackie Gessner

  Many of my recent posts have focused on what I am dubbing the “new” unions. From Uber drivers to college athletes, the collection of workforces seeking to unionize and assert labor rights is growing more and more diverse (in spite of – or maybe as a result of – the shrinking number of unionized workers overall).   While scrolling through cases in search of such examples, I quickly stumbled on David Saxe Productions LLC…

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31 Mar 2017 Labor Secretary Nominee Inching Toward Confirmation

Other | Steve Hernandez

  A day after the ranking Democrat, Patty Murray (D-Wa), of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (the Labor Committee) promised to vote against the nomination of Alexander Acosta to serve as Secretary of Labor, the Labor Committee nevertheless favorably  reported out the nomination of Acosta for consideration by the full senate. Acosta, the child of Cuban immigrants, is currently the dean of Florida International University’s law school and has served as an…

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27 Mar 2017 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of March 13 – 17

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

  The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of March 13-17 is now available.   Summarized Board Decisions   Taylor Motors, Inc.  (10-CA-141565, et al.; 365 NLRB No. 21)  Ft. Campbell, KY, March 13, 2017.   The Board (Members Pearce and McFerran; Acting Chairman Miscimarra dissenting) remanded this case to the Administrative Law Judge, who had found that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) when it suspended and discharged an employee for protected conduct he engaged…

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22 Mar 2017 Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of March 6 – 10

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

  The summary of NLRB decisions for the week of March 6-10 is now available.   Knollwood Country Club  (02-CA-150410, et al.; 365 NLRB No. 22)  Elmsford, NY, March 08, 2017.   The Board unanimously affirmed the Administrative Law Judge’s conclusions that the Respondent violated: (1) Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by unilaterally changing unit employees’ terms and conditions of employment when it used temporary staffing agency workers to perform unit work; modified the parties’ contract by…

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21 Mar 2017 No Vacancy: U.S. Supreme Court Invalidates Most of Former Acting NLRB GC’s Tenure

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  First there was the New Process Steel case in 2010, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) needed at least three lawfully-appointed members to render decisions. Then, in 2014, the Supreme Court held in its Noel Canning decision that former President Obama overstepped his “recess appointment authority” by appointing three members to the NLRB when congress was not in “recess.” Now, we have the Southwest Ambulance case.  …

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16 Mar 2017 Sixth Circuit Refuses to Vacate; Lets Local Municipal Right-To-Work Decision Stand

State Labor Laws, Unions and Union Membership | Keith Brodie

  Following up on our post from earlier this week, on March 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has refused to vacate its ruling in Autoworkers Local 3047 v. Hardin County, a Kentucky case. In doing so, the court allows to stand its ruling that municipalities can pass enforceable right-to-work provisions. The unions wanted the decision vacated as moot based on the state of Kentucky adopting right-to-work legislation, thereby making it…

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