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04 Sep 2013 A Weekly Summary of NLRB Decisions for Aug. 26-30, 2013

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has updated their website with a summary of decisions for the week of Aug. 26-30, 2013. The summary of NLRB decisions can be accessed by visiting the NLRB’s website here, or by clicking on the link below. National Labor Relations Board: Summary of Decisions for Aug. 26-30, 2013. Keith BrodieKeith J. Brodie is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Grand Rapids, Michigan office. He devotes his practice exclusively…

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04 Sep 2013 ALJ Calls Out NLRB for Lack of “Intellectual Integrity”

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

The NLRB has been taking its hits lately from federal judges on everything from recess appointments to its proposed notice posting rule, but last week the punch came from within after an NLRB Administrative Law Judge issued a decision chiding the Board and NLRB General Counsel for their lack of “intellectual integrity.”  The case, decided by ALJ William G. Kocol, involved standards for deferral of NLRB charges to arbitration, but is notable for Judge Kocol’s rancor toward…

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30 Aug 2013 <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i> Hit with ULP Complaint

Federal Laws and Legislation | Adam Bartrom

In the midst of ongoing contract negotiations, the Chicago Newspaper Guild has filed a ULP charge against the Sun-Times newspaper group alleging that the company is using a non-union company to perform work reserved for bargaining unit employees. According to the union’s website, it is alleging that the newspaper group’s parent company shares ownership with the non-union entity which is performing the bargaining unit work. The newspaper group’s parent company denies the allegations and maintains that it…

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30 Aug 2013 Unions Continue Alternative Organizing Methods with Fast Food One-Day Strikes

Unions and Union Membership | btlabor

Just in time for Labor Day, unions organized one-day strikes at fast food locations around the country yesterday to demand higher wages. Thursday’s protests follow similar walk-outs in July and May of this year. As we have previously reported, this type of one-day strike is evidence of unions’ changing models for labor organizing aimed at combating the decline of union membership nationwide.  Thursday’s protests were supported and funded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). And it…

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29 Aug 2013 First Social Media Policies and Now E-Mail?

National Labor Relations Board | Gerald Lutkus

In what could be the first salvo in the NLRB’s latest assault, the NLRB Division of Advice has recommended that an NLRB Regional Director issue a complaint against a call center company (Alpine Access) for the restrictions it placed on employee use of the company’s e-mail system. The Advice Division not only concluded that the actions taken by the employer were unlawful under current Board authority in the Register Guard case, the advice memorandum went…

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28 Aug 2013 A Weekly Summary of NLRB Decisions for Aug. 19-23, 2013

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has updated their website with a summary of decisions for the week of Aug. 19-23, 2013. The summary of NLRB decisions can be accessed by visiting the NLRB’s website here, or by clicking on the link below. National Labor Relations Board: Summary of Decisions for Aug. 19-23, 2013. Keith BrodieKeith J. Brodie is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Grand Rapids, Michigan office. He devotes his practice exclusively…

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22 Aug 2013 Federal Judge Rules NLRB General Counsel’s Appointment Invalid

National Labor Relations Board | Steve Hernandez

Although all five NLRB members have been properly confirmed, there remains an issue with the status of the Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon. On Aug. 13, 2013, United States District Judge Benjamin H. Settle of the Western District of Washington dismissed the petition of Region 19, of the NLRB seeking injunctive relief pursuant to section 10(j) of the Act. In reaching that determination, Judge Settle reviewed whether the NLRB had the authority to issue the complaint…

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21 Aug 2013 A Weekly Summary of NLRB Decisions for Aug. 12-16, 2013

National Labor Relations Board | Keith Brodie

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has updated their website with a summary of decisions for the week of Aug.12-16, 2013. The summary of NLRB decisions can be accessed by visiting the NLRB’s website here, or by clicking on the link below. National Labor Relations Board: Summary of Decisions for Aug. 12-16, 2013. Keith BrodieKeith J. Brodie is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Grand Rapids, Michigan office. He devotes his practice exclusively to…

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19 Aug 2013 Michigan Right to Work Act Upheld by Court of Appeals

Federal Laws and Legislation | Gerald Lutkus

The United Auto Workers suffered yet another defeat in its effort to overturn Michigan’s public sector Right to Work Act. The Michigan Court of Appeals has, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the lower court’s decision that the State has the authority to enact laws that effect the state’s civil service employees. The appellate court rejected the argument that the Michigan Constitution gave the state’s Civil Service Commission the exclusive authority to set employment conditions for those…

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19 Aug 2013 Sixth Circuit Upholds NLRB’s Specialty Healthcare “Micro-Union” Decision

National Labor Relations Board | btlabor

  On Aug. 15, 2013, the Sixth Circuit upheld the NLRB’s controversial 2011 Specialty Healthcare decision which many have argued will promote “micro-unions” in the workplace and make it easier for unions to dictate the group of employees they wish to organize.   What does this mean for employers going forward? The new standard for evaluating whether it is necessary to expand a bargaining unit will be difficult for employers to surmount. Accordingly, unions will…

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