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21 Jan 2015 BIG LABOR CORRUPTION – FORMER IRON WORKERS PRESIDENT CONVICTED

Unions and Union Membership | Keith Brodie

For years, Big Labor has been tied to allegations of corruption and cronyisms. Yesterday was another black–eye for Big Labor, and specifically the Ironworkers Union. On the fifth day of deliberations, a Philadelphia jury returned guilty verdicts against former Ironworker’s Union leader, Joseph Dougherty, on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, arson and extortion.  The verdicts stem from charges alleging the former Ironworker leader conspired with other Union members to carry out violence and extort non-union contractors….

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20 Jan 2015 MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT HEARS CHALLENGE TO STATES RIGHT TO WORK LAW

Unions and Union Membership | Keith Brodie

Last Tuesday, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments in UAW v. Green, Case No. 147700, which the United Autoworkers (UAW) filed to challenge the application of Michigan’s Right to Work law to 35,000 State employees. The UAW has been arguing that Michigan’s Right to Work law does not apply to state employees who are under the jurisdiction of and whose wages are set by the Michigan Civil Service Commission. The UAW suit is an effort…

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20 Jan 2015 DC CIRCUIT OVERTURNS NLRB ON COMPANY ONLY HAT RULE

National Labor Relations Board | Gerald Lutkus

In a short and sweet decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has overturned an NLRB decision that that declared a “company hat only” policy to be violative of employee Section 7 rights. Quad Graphics, a subsidiary of World Color (USA) Corp., prohibits employees from wearing any baseball caps except for caps bearing the company logo. The Teamsters took issue with the policy and filed an unfair labor practice charge against…

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15 Jan 2015 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, JANUARY 5 – 9, 2015

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of January 5 – 9, 2015, is now available on the NLRB’s website. btlaborBT Labor Relations is managed by the labor law attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg. The blog aims to be a source for news, analysis, and commentary on traditional labor legal issues, including news related to the NLRB and a variety of state issues.More Posts – Website

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15 Jan 2015 Multiemployer Pension Funds Get Leeway to Cut Retiree Benefits

Unions and Union Membership | Gerald Lutkus

We’ve written in the past about the looming danger presented by the large number of drastically underfunded union multiemployer pension benefits plans in the U.S. Well, while we were all rushing around in December getting ready for Christmas, Congress passed H.R. 83, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, to re-fund the Government. Included in that Act were a series of amendments to the Multiemployer Pension Protection Act which will allow trustees operating…

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14 Jan 2015 EVENLY DIVIDED 7TH CIRCUIT REJECTS EN BANC REVIEW OF INDIANA’S RIGHT TO WORK ACT

Unions and Union Membership | Gerald Lutkus

In a somewhat rare occurrence, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is split right down the middle on whether to rehear a union’s challenge to the constitutionality of Indiana’s Right to Work Act.  The Court voted  5-to-5 Tuesday on whether to rehear the appeal en banc.  The even split means the three-judge panel’s decision from September, 2014 upholding the statute under the United States Constitution stands.   The 2014 decision upholding…

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08 Jan 2015 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, DECEMBER 29, 2014 – JANUARY 2, 2015

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of December 29, 2014 – January 2, 2015, is now available on the NLRB’s website. btlaborBT Labor Relations is managed by the labor law attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg. The blog aims to be a source for news, analysis, and commentary on traditional labor legal issues, including news related to the NLRB and a variety of state issues.More Posts – Website

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07 Jan 2015 NLRB Sued Over Quickie Election Rule

National Labor Relations Board | Steve Hernandez

In an utterly unsurprising development, a coalition of trade associations headed by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed a lawsuit  against the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 5, 2015, alleges that the NLRB’s implementation of its  “Quickie Election” final rule (the Final Rule, discussed here previously) would violate the First Amendment, the Due Process…

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06 Jan 2015 NLRB Upholds Subpoena of Employer’s Employee Handbook

National Labor Relations Board | Steve Hernandez

On the last day of 2014, a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) denied a Massachusetts-based waste-services provider’s request to revoke a document subpoena issued by the Regional Director of Region 1 of the NLRB. By the subpoena, Region 1 sought the “Employee Handbook” of the employer. In seeking to revoke the subpoena, the employer argued that Region 1 was investigating two charges, neither of which alleged “a violation…

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05 Jan 2015 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, DECEMBER 22 – 26, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of December 22 – 26, 2014, is now available on the NLRB’s website. Keith BrodieKeith J. Brodie is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Grand Rapids, Michigan office. He devotes his practice exclusively to labor and employment law. He is a practitioner and counselor to his clients on labor matters including collective bargaining, union organizing, NLRB unfair labor practice charge defense, and labor strategies for mergers, acquisitions…

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