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26 Feb 2018 Operating Engineers Union Sues Over Duty to Represent Non-Dues-Paying Employees

Unions and Union Membership | Gerald Lutkus

  Local 150 of the Operating Engineers Union has fired the first blast to deal with the expected result of the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in the Janus v. AFSCME case.   In Janus, the Supreme Court will decide whether to overturn the fair share or agency fee requirements that exist in public sector unions.  Under those arrangements, employees are required to pay dues equivalent to their “fair share” of the union’s cost of representation. …

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23 Feb 2018 Revoking Dues Check-offs – You’ve Got to Follow the Card

Unions and Union Membership | Gerald Lutkus

  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has delivered the latest reminder to those attempting to stop paying union dues – you have to follow the language on your dues check-off card and you have to follow it precisely.   In Ohlendorf et al. v. United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, Local 876, the plaintiffs had signed checkoff authorization forms, which like most dues check-off forms, declared that they could not be revoked by…

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23 Feb 2018 Charge Filed Against Union Regarding “Forced Dues Payments”

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  The National Right to Work Foundation has just issued a press release announcing that it has filed a charge against a United Steelworkers (USW) local union in Wisconsin with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) related to “forced dues payments.” Wisconsin is a right-to-work state.   Right-to-work laws are permitted under Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, and they make it unlawful for companies to require union dues as a condition of employment. In…

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21 Feb 2018 Do Over? NLRB May Have To Revisit Its Stance On Joint-Employers Due To Alleged Conflict

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  On Dec. 14, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made headlines and pacified many concerned members of the business community when it overruled its infamous 2015 Browning-Ferris decision – a decision that made it significantly easier for two or more companies to be found “joint-employers” under the National Labor Relations Act. The board did so in a case involving the company Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors Ltd. That victory for employers may be short lived,…

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20 Feb 2018 Scrutinized: Congressional Members Questioning Agenda of New NLRB GC

National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  In just over three months into his tenure as the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel, Peter Robb has made significant waves. First came a sweeping memo on Dec. 1, 2017, in which Robb identified cases of significance where his office may be seeking changes to NLRB precedent, such as cases involving “joint-employers” and employee use of employer email systems. Next came his announcement that he is considering “reorganizing the agency’s 26 regional offices…

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19 Feb 2018 Does Misclassifying Employees As Independent Contractors Violate Labor Law?

Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board | David Pryzbylski

  Whether it be the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Labor (DOL), or state unemployment or workers’ compensation agencies, employee versus independent contractor status always is a hot issue. Missteps by employers in this area can result in back taxes, penalties, and more. The question has been looming, however, whether the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) also would be throwing itself into the misclassification analysis fray with other agencies. Specifically, the board previously…

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16 Feb 2018 Prior Administration Board Decisions Still Matter

National Labor Relations Board | Nathan Baker

  There has been a great deal of discussion and internet content over the impact that a new and fully constituted NLRB could have on critical labor issues – and for good reason.   The Board in the last several years handed down multiple decisions on key issues that turned decades of precedent on its head.  It only makes sense that a more “pro-employer” trend due to the changes in administration would have companies excited at…

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15 Feb 2018 ‘Mean Girls’: Union Violated Labor Law By ‘Ostracizing’ and ‘Humiliating’ Its Own Members On Facebook, Says NLRB GC

National Labor Relations Board, Unions and Union Membership | David Pryzbylski

  In what reads like a storyline from a movie portraying bullying at a high school, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has just released an Advice Memo from its General Counsel’s office finding that Teamsters Local Union 610 violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by setting up a “secret” Facebook group that ostracized and humiliated some if its own members.   At issue in the case was a facility where the Teamsters had negotiated…

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14 Feb 2018 Board’s New Boeing Test Still Blocks Separation Agreements

National Labor Relations Board | Gerald Lutkus

    A National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has taken the first whack at applying the Board’s new test in Boeing.  He concluded that terms included in a university medical center’s separation agreements were phrased in such broad terms that they interfered with employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).   The ALJ focused on two terms of the separation agreements that Baylor University Medical Center had offered to 27…

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12 Feb 2018 Tweet This: Twitter Becoming More Prevalent In Union Organizing Efforts

Union Organizing, Unions and Union Membership | David Pryzbylski

  Unions are turning to social media more and more in an effort to expand their ranks. Twitter, in particular, is a platform big labor is utilizing in hopes of spurring interest among younger workers, according to a new report from Bloomberg BNA. Unions increasingly are using the platform to launch or help further unionization campaigns.   According to the report, “And unions need more young workers to fill their ranks if they’re going to…

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