Labor

  • December 17, 2024

    Union Says DOL's H2-A Contracts Defy Court Order

    A farmworkers union told a Washington federal judge Monday that the U.S. Department of Labor is violating a court injunction by greenlighting H-2A contracts that do not include 2020 prevailing wage rates for the upcoming cherry and apple harvests.

  • December 17, 2024

    DC Circ. Nixes Challenge To Union Vote At Transformer Co.

    An electrical transformer manufacturer can't overturn the National Labor Relations Board's certification of a union with claims that agency officials botched the representation vote, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying the company's allegations about the length of the voting period lack merit.

  • December 17, 2024

    With End In Sight, Biden NLRB Defined By Major Shifts In Law

    The tenure of the National Labor Relations Board under President Joe Biden is drawing to a close and labor law experts said they will remember it for issuing a string of consequential decisions that expanded union rights and reintroduced issues to the ever-changing labor law landscape.

  • December 17, 2024

    Starbucks Baristas Authorize Strike Amid First Contract Talks

    Unionized Starbucks baristas have voted to authorize a strike at the coffee giant, Workers United announced Tuesday, as the parties went back to the negotiating table with outstanding issues for first contracts related to wages, benefits and settling unfair labor practice claims.

  • December 17, 2024

    Police Captains Say Del. City Fails To Pay Them OT

    The city of Wilmington, Delaware, misclassifies police captains as overtime-exempt despite their duties being nearly identical to those of police officers, who are eligible for overtime pay, a Delaware federal court was told.

  • December 17, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms NLRB Bargain Order Against Chemical Co.

    A chemical manufacturer must comply with a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering it to negotiate with a United Food and Commercial Workers affiliate, the Eleventh Circuit found, rejecting the company's claim that two ballots that could have swayed the vote outcome should have counted.

  • December 17, 2024

    NLRB Orders Rerun Election At USC Clinic Over Threats

    The National Labor Relations Board called for another representation election at a University of Southern California health clinic after it threatened to erode benefits just ahead of a union's loss, but the board rejected a judge's recommendation to educate the voters about their labor rights.

  • December 17, 2024

    NLRB Says Distillery Gave Raises To Undercut Union Support

    The National Labor Relations Board has ordered a Kentucky distillery to bargain with a Teamsters local, agreeing with an agency judge that the raises and free bourbon the distillery handed out in November 2022 was an illegal attempt to undermine the union organizing campaign.

  • December 17, 2024

    Groups Want Win In Partially Blocked Prevailing Wage Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor's final rule updating how prevailing wages are calculated under the Davis-Bacon Act should sink because it is arbitrary and capricious, a group of construction groups said, urging a Texas court to ax the rule after it partially blocked it.

  • December 16, 2024

    Amazon Puts Speed Over Worker Safety, Sanders Report Says

    Amazon prioritizes speed and profit over warehouse workers' safety, and the company has ignored its own internal studies on how to improve workplace safety, according to a report Sen. Bernie Sanders has released that Amazon vehemently derided late Monday as an attempt to support a false "preconceived narrative."

  • December 16, 2024

    Starbucks Made Illegal Posts On Website, NLRB Judge Says

    Starbucks must take down statements on a company website unveiled during Workers United's organizing campaign that offered training and improved benefits, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Monday, finding the coffee chain must post a notice nationwide that its comments violate federal labor law.

  • December 16, 2024

    Pa. Archaeologists Can Vote On Teamsters Representation

    A National Labor Relations Board official cleared archaeologists and cultural resources technicians at a Pennsylvania environmental consulting company to vote on union representation, saying one archaeologist is a union-ineligible supervisor and another may be, but the rest of the workers are not.

  • December 16, 2024

    Albertsons Says Kroger 'Squandered' $25B Merger Bid

    The Kroger Co. Inc. "willfully squandered" opportunities to complete a now-blocked $24.6 billion mega-merger with Albertsons Cos. Inc., according to an unsealed five-count lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery potentially seeking billions in damages.

  • December 16, 2024

    Justices Cite Loper Bright, Remand NLRB Successor Bar Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court remanded an NLRB dispute Monday about a Puerto Rico hospital's liability for withdrawing recognition from a union under the agency's successor bar standard, telling the D.C. Circuit to review its deference to the board under Loper Bright.

  • December 16, 2024

    Union Wins Fight To Arbitrate Nuclear Plant Healthcare Dispute

    An International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local has won its fight to get a nuclear power plant operator to arbitrate a grievance over the company's 2022 healthcare contributions, with a Pennsylvania federal judge adopting a magistrate judge's recommendation to award a win to the union.

  • December 16, 2024

    K&L Gates Adds Hirschfeld Kraemer Employment Pro In LA

    K&L Gates LLP continues expanding its labor and employment team, bringing in a Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP employment litigator as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • December 13, 2024

    DC Circ. Upholds NLRB In Puerto Rico Hospital Layoff Case

    A San Juan, Puerto Rico, hospital illegally laid off its janitors and contracted out their work without bargaining with their union, the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday, upholding the National Labor Relations Board's decision in the case.

  • December 13, 2024

    NLRB Says Builder Refused To Bargain After Decert. Denial

    The National Labor Relations Board said Friday that a Michigan builder violated federal labor law by ceasing to recognize and refusing to bargain with an established union, teeing up a possible court review of a prior board decision tossing a decertification push due to the company's alleged labor violations.

  • December 13, 2024

    7th Circ. Nixes NLRB Order Against Surgery Center

    An Indianapolis surgery center was within its rights to fire an employee accused of goofing off during a surgery, the Seventh Circuit ruled, overturning the National Labor Relations Board's finding that the facility actually fired the employee for raising concerns about workers' unlicensed use of X-ray equipment.

  • December 13, 2024

    NY Forecast: 2nd Circ. Hears School District Retaliation Suit

    This week, the Second Circuit will consider a former Connecticut school district executive's attempt to revive her lawsuit alleging she was fired in retaliation for filing a complaint claiming she was passed over for a promotion due to her race and gender. Here, Law360 looks at this and other cases on the docket in New York.

  • December 13, 2024

    Worker Fired For Union Activity, Not Vax Status, Court Agrees

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision that a commercial property management firm illegally fired a union supporter, finding "substantial evidence" the firing was based on the worker's union support and not his COVID-19 vaccination status.

  • December 13, 2024

    Vanderbilt Can Keep Student Info From NLRB, Union

    The National Labor Relations Board can't make Vanderbilt University provide personal information about graduate student workers for a representation election case, a Tennessee federal judge ruled, siding with the school's concerns that giving these details could violate a federal education privacy law.

  • December 13, 2024

    NLRB Says Locker Co. Must Bargain After Fighting Union

    An Indiana locker manufacturer must recognize and bargain with a Teamsters local after retaliating against the union during an organizing campaign and the union's loss of a representation election, the National Relations Board ruled, saying the company's conduct tainted the laboratory conditions necessary for a fair vote.

  • December 13, 2024

    Calif. Forecast: Apple Wants Wage Collective Decertified

    In the next two weeks, attorneys should keep an eye out for the fate of a decertification bid in a wage and hour collective action against Apple. Here's a look at that case and other labor and employment matters coming up in California.

  • December 13, 2024

    Workers Hit Cisco With Claims Of Anti-Palestinian Bias

    A group of current and former Cisco workers lodged charges with workplace discrimination and labor regulators accusing the company of allowing Palestinian employees to be harassed for criticizing its decision to provide technology to the Israeli military in its war with Hamas.

Expert Analysis

  • The Risks Of Employee Political Discourse On Social Media

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    As election season enters its final stretch and employees increasingly engage in political speech on social media, employers should beware the liability risks and consider policies that negotiate the line between employees' rights and the limits on those rights, say Bradford Kelley and James McGehee at Littler.

  • Proposed Law Would Harm NYC Hospitality Industry

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    A recently proposed New York City Law that would update hotel licensing and staff coverage requirements could give the city commissioner and unions undue control over the city's hospitality industry, and harm smaller hotels that cannot afford full-time employees, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.

  • US Labor And Employment Law Holds Some Harsh Trade-Offs

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    U.S. labor and employment laws have evolved into a product of exposure-capping compromise, which merits discussion in a presidential election year when the dialogue has focused on purported protections of middle-class workers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

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    In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.

  • Preparing For The NLRB's New Union Recognition Final Rule

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    The National Labor Relations Board's impending new final rule on union recognition puts the employer at a particular disadvantage in a decertification election, and best practices include conducting workplace assessments to identify and proactively address employee issues, say Louis Cannon and Gerald Bradner at Baker Donelson.

  • The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Key Steps To Employer Petitions For Union Elections

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the National Labor Relations Board shifted the burden of requesting formal union elections onto employers in its Cemex decision last year — and raised the stakes for employer missteps during the process — companies should be prepared to correctly file representation management election petitions and respond to union demands for recognition, says Adam Keating at Duane Morris.

  • Focus On Political Stances May Weaken Labor Unions

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    Recent lawsujits and a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives call attention to the practice of labor unions taking political stances with which their members disagree — an issue that may weaken unions, and that employers should stay abreast of, given its implications for labor organizing campaigns, workplace morale and collective bargaining, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB Ruling Highlights Rare Union Deauthorization Process

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board decision about a guard company's union authorization revocation presents a ripe opportunity for employees to review the particulars of this uncommon process, and employer compliance is critical as well, say Megann McManus and Trecia Moore at Husch Blackwell.

  • Latest 'Nuclear Verdict' Underscores Jury-Trial Employer Risk

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    A Los Angeles Superior Court jury's recent $900 million verdict in a high-profile sexual assault and harassment case illustrates the increase in so-called nuclear verdicts in employment cases, and the need for employers to explore alternative methods of resolving disputes, say Anthony Oncidi and Morgan Peterson at Proskauer.

  • After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.

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