Seyfarth Synopsis: On Friday, December 1, 2017, newly appointed NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued a memo containing a broad overview of his initial agenda as General Counsel. It previews many anticipated developments during the Trump Administration. Our blog is exploring a different aspect of the memo each day during
collective bargaining agreements
RLA “Minor Dispute” Preemption Alive and Well As a Potential Defense in State Court
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Posted in Current Events, Preemption
By: Skelly Harper
An Illinois state appellate court recently confirmed that Railway Labor Act “minor dispute” preemption is alive and well as a potential defense to state-law retaliatory discharge claims. The case, Hughes v. United Airlines, Inc., involved a former flight attendant’s claim that she was fired for filing a worker’s compensation claim.
The…
NLRB Forces Buyers To Become “Successors” Against Their Will
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
By: Ronald J. Kramer
While all eyes were on the landmark Browning-Ferris decision issued Thursday, the Board issued yet another split decision that also may have far reaching consequences. In GVS Properties, LLC, 362 NLRB No. 194 (Aug. 27, 2015) (here), a case of first impression, the Board in a 2-1 decision…
Giving Unions Their Dues: “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same.”
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Depending on your point of view, it’s the same old (and new) song. Whether the famous 19th Century line by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the lyrics from the 2010 Bon Jovi song, or decisions of the current National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”), it’s apparently true that the more…
Victory? Indiana Right to Work Act Survives Seventh Circuit Review–Indiana Supreme Court Up Next
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Posted in Current Events, State Law
By: Ronald J. Kramer, Esq.
It is black letter law that states can prohibit contracts from requiring bargaining unit members to pay money to unions, right? Maybe not, at least according to the Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit. On September 2, 2014, the Seventh Circuit upheld Indiana’s Right to Work Act in a…
BOUNTY OF BIG ISSUES SLATED FOR DECISION BY NLRB IN 2014
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Posted in Current Events, NLRB
By: Kenneth R. Dolin, Esq.
The coming year is expected to present significant developments from the National Labor Relations Board. For the first time since August 2003, the Board has its full complement of five members, three Democratic appointees (Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Members Nancy Schiffer and Kent Hirozawa) and two Republican appointees
…
NLRB ALJ Concludes That Employer Cannot Condition Bargaining On Outcome of Noel Canning Case
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Posted in Current Events
By: Ashley Kircher Laken, Esq.
On October 22, an NLRB administrative law judge found that an employer violated the National Labor Relations Act when it refused to bargain with a union that had been certified by the Board unless the union agreed that any deal would be voided if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds…
What The Delay In The Employer Mandate Under The ACA Means For Collective Bargaining
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
Posted in Collective Bargaining, Current Events
By: Ronald J. Kramer, Esq.
In an informal July 2nd blog post, a Treasury official announced that the Obama Administration will not be imposing penalties on employers who do not offer minimal affordable coverage in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”)–the so-called employer mandate–in 2014. The promised follow-up IRS notice 2013-45 regarding this…
NLRB Reverses ALJ, Orders Deferral of Charge Against Union to Arbitration
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
In Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local 18, 359 NLRB No. 121, the NLRB held that an employer’s unfair labor practice charge against a union should have been deferred to the grievance-arbitration procedure of the parties’ collective bargaining agreement. The result will come as somewhat of a surprise to those who…
The Holidays Arrive Early for Organized Labor: NLRB Takes Away Newly Organized Employer’s Longstanding Right to Discipline Employees Without Bargaining First
By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on
In Alan Ritchey, Inc, 359 NLRB No. 40 (2012), a decision dated December 14, 2012, but just published, the NLRB decided that newly organized employers cannot discipline employees without first notifying the union and bargaining over the decision. Despite fifteen pages of hemming and hawing, explanations of vague, undefined exceptions…