Labor Relations Law Blog

On June 19th, President Trump announced his intention to nominate attorney Marvin Kaplan, a Republican, to the National Labor Relations Board. Kaplan currently serves as Chief Counsel of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Previously, Kaplan worked with the U.S. House of Representatives.

The NLRB, which oversees union elections and disputes between employers, workers, and unions ...

On June 7, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) ruled that a company committed an unfair labor practice by unlawfully interrogating and discharging an employee. Specifically, in RHCG Safety Corp. and Construction & General Building Laborers, Local 79, LIUNA, 356 NLRB No. 88, 2017 WL 2497155, the NLRB found National Labor Relations Act (“Act”) violations when a supervisor sent an employee a text message inquiring about the employee’s union activity, and then told him there was no work for him.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently finalized regulations affecting employers and trade associations across the US.  Those regulations would require reporting of engagement with legal counsel involved in direct or indirect persuasion of employees on matters of union representation.  The stated goal of the regulations was to bring into public view the point that attorneys and consultants are often engaged to help employers in communicating with employees.  With this goal in mind, the regulations sought to force employers and their counsel, effective July 1, 2016, to report engagements, terms of engagement, certain tasks, and expenditures linked to employer communication with employees.  Thus, if an employer hired counsel to draft or review communication plans, to prepare communication pieces, to train supervisors on things they can and cannot say under the law, or in taking action against an employee who engaged in misconduct during the time of a union organizing campaign, such information would be required for disclosure on forms developed by the DOL.  Not only must the attorney/consultant file the report, but the employer must as well, even if the attorney/consultant had no communication directly with employees other than supervisors and management.

In a new enforcement memorandum, the NLRB General Counsel has directed the Regional Offices to pursue litigation opportunities to overturn existing law on withdrawal of union recognition.  See Memorandum GC 16-03 (5/9/16).  Under current law, an employer may withdraw union recognition when presented with objective evidence of an actual lack of majority support among the unit employees.  Typically, this ...

To stay informed and to better serve our clients, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo labor law attorneys keep on top of the latest statute and rule changes, whether these changes are actual, proposed, or even rumored. We also stay current on the most recent decisions from courts and administrative boards.

We don’t merely learn about new rulings — we analyze them in depth to determine how they affect our ...