Recent Posts
The Legal Stuff
BT Labor Relations - Current News and Practical Analysis
1

21 Dec 2017 NLRB Asks Ninth Circuit to Uphold Purple Communications Decision

National Labor Relations Board | Thomas Payne

  On Dec. 19, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to affirm its ruling in the controversial Purple Communications decision. Purple Communications, you might remember, was a 2014 decision that overturned the Register Guard standard for employee use of company email for nonwork purposes.   The standard under the 2007 Register Guard decision was that employees had no right under the National Labor Relations Act…

READ MORE
1

19 Dec 2017 Welcome to the NLRB Labor Law Time Machine, Step Right In…

National Labor Relations Board | Scott Witlin

  Everything that is old is starting to become new again. This past week, President Trump’s new NLRB appointments began to take action to return federal labor law to what it was before the eight years of pro-union rulings of the Obama-era boards.   Monday, Dec. 11   A 3-2 NLRB decision restated a board precedent that allowed administrative law judges to accept settlements over the objections of NLRB general counsel and the charging party,…

READ MORE
1

19 Dec 2017 A Final Bow from Miscimarra Lessens Employer Bargaining Obligations

National Labor Relations Board | Thomas Payne

  On the eve of Chairman Philip Miscimarra’s departure, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) remained busy. In Raytheon, the board undid another Obama-era decision that reversed decades of NLRB precedent. This decision overturned a 2016 decision and held that where an employer makes modifications to terms and conditions of employment similar in kind and degree with an established past practice consisting of comparable unilateral modifications, they owe the union no notice or duty to…

READ MORE
5

18 Dec 2017 All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men CAN Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again: NLRB Overrules Specialty Healthcare, Potentially Reducing Number of Fractured Bargaining Units

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) capped one of the most notable weeks in its history by issuing a decision that overruled the agency’s now infamous Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011), decision. That decision paved the way for a slew of micro-units being certified by the NLRB over the last five-plus years (despite the NLRB’s assurances back in 2011 that its holding in Specialty Healthcare would only apply…

READ MORE
3

15 Dec 2017 NLRB Delivers Early Holiday Gifts to Employers Reverts on Joint Employment, Issues Favorable Personnel Policies Standard

National Labor Relations Board | Thomas Payne

  Holiday gift giving has started early this year thanks to a busy week by the revamped, employer-friendly National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On Dec. 15, the board handed down two opinions, one overturning a 2004 decision on work rules and handbook policies and the other overruling the infamous Obama-era joint employer standard.   We’ll start with the biggest gift of all: the overturning of Browning-Ferris and the return to a more sensible joint-employer standard….

READ MORE
2

13 Dec 2017 NLRB Shuttering Its Alaska Office

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is moving forward with plans to close its office in Anchorage, Alaska – the lone physical office in that state. This follows an announcement by the agency earlier this year that it was contemplating such a move. While the physical office is closing, the NLRB will continue to have at least one agent located in the state to process cases. The office will close on Dec. 29, 2017….

READ MORE
5

12 Dec 2017 Roll It Back? NLRB Potentially Contemplating Rescinding ‘Quickie Election Rules’

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  In a potentially monumental development, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on Dec. 12 that it is seeking input from the public regarding the NLRB’s 2014 Election Rule (aka “Quickie Election Rules” or “Ambush Election Rules”). According to a press release, the NLRB specifically is evaluating whether the rule should remain as is, be modified, or rescinded in its entirety. The press release provides instructions for submitting feedback.   A recently released report…

READ MORE
5

12 Dec 2017 And So It Begins…Trump NLRB Overturns Obama NLRB Precedent for First Time

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  On Dec. 11, the newly constituted National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) – which has a 3-2 pro-employer majority for the first time in nearly a decade due to appointments made by President Trump – overruled, for the first time, Obama-era precedent. Specifically, in a case involving the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the NLRB overruled Obama-board precedent that made it more difficult for employers to resolve unfair labor practice complaints.   The NLRB released…

READ MORE
3

11 Dec 2017 Employers Face the Music: NLRB Judge Rules Musicians May Protest Outside Auditorium

National Labor Relations Board, Unions and Union Membership | btlabor

  As with property, many union protests seem to boil down to three things: Location, location, location! After being ushered across the street, union members’ recent protest outside the Tobin Center of Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas, hit a high note with an NLRB administrative law judge who held the union members had a right to protest outside the auditorium. This decision serves as a caution that employers may have to relinquish some control…

READ MORE
3

08 Dec 2017 Switching Sides: DOJ Reverses Course, Now Opposes Mandatory Public Union Fees

Unions and Union Membership | David Pryzbylski

  The battle over mandatory public union fees for government workers has been brewing for years, and the issue is again before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, concerns an Illinois state  employee who claims the fees violate his First Amendment rights. The employee is not a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, but is required to pay fees to…

READ MORE