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22 Sep 2014 NLRB Says There is Such Thing as a Free Lunch

National Labor Relations Board | Steve Hernandez

  This week, the National Labor Relations Board (the NLRB) attempted to disprove the old addage that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. In Gates & Sons Barbeque of Missouri, Inc., decided on September 16, 2014, the three-member panel of the NLRB unanimously affirmed most of the decision reached by an administrative law judge (the ALJ) that a Kansas City barbecue restaurant chain violated employee rights by taking away the meal benefits previously…

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19 Sep 2014 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, SEPTEMBER 8-12, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of September 8-12, 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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15 Sep 2014 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, SEPTEMBER 2-5, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of September 2-5, 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,…

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09 Sep 2014 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, AUGUST 25 – 29, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of August 25-29, 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,…

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05 Sep 2014 IRS Turns A Blind Eye to Unions’ Political Expenditures

Unions and Union Membership | Keith Brodie

  The Internal Revenue Services (IRS) scandal regarding the targeting of conservative political groups took another turn this week. As email traffic from the embattled Lois Lerner continues to surface, recent emails demonstrate that the IRS (and Ms. Lerner) knew of drastic discrepancies between the sums labor unions were reporting on their Department of Labor form LM-2 and the same unions Form 990 required by the IRS.   It appears Ms. Lerner turned a blind…

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04 Sep 2014 Michigan Teachers Union Suffers Right To Work Setbacks – Teachers Can Leave Unions At Anytime

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  Yesterday a Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that the Michigan Education Association (MEA), which includes most of Michigan’s teachers unions, cannot restrict teachers’ ability to leave the unions under Michigan’s Right to Work law. The MEA had taken the position that teachers could only resign membership from the union during a singular window during August of any given year. Assisted by the Mackinac Center, four teachers from Saginaw challenged…

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02 Sep 2014 Seventh Circuit Upholds Indiana Right to Work Law – Indiana Supreme Court to Weigh in Next

Federal Laws and Legislation, State Labor Laws | John Koenig

  The Seventh Circuit today issued its long awaited decision affirming a lower court ruling that upheld Indiana’s right to work law under federal law. The Indiana General Assembly passed the Indiana Right to Work Act on February 1, 2012, and then-Governor Mitch Daniels signed it into law. Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers filed suit in federal district court in Indiana challenging the law on federal preemption and federal Constitutional grounds….

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28 Aug 2014 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, AUGUST 18 – 22, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of August 18-22, 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,…

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25 Aug 2014 NLRB WEEKLY SUMMARY OF DECISIONS, AUGUST 11 – 15, 2014

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

  The Summary of NLRB decisions for the week of August 11-15, 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 and…

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20 Aug 2014 NLRB Chooses Form Over Function

National Labor Relations Board | Steve Hernandez

  In a 2 to 1 decision issued on August 15, 2014, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) refused to count 23 challenged ballots  of employees not on the eligibility list in an election that  the union won 21 to 20. The 23 employees were not on the eligibility list because each of those employees was hired during the 8-month period between the initially agreed upon eligibility date of March 8, 2013 (for an agreed-upon…

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