Labor Relations Law Blog

On December 16, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision in the case of Bexar County Performing Arts Center which restricts the right of property owners to restrict the right of employees who work on the property to engage in protest activity that is protected by the federal labor laws.  The Board held in that case that a San Antonio, Texas performing arts venue did not have the right to evict employees of a symphony who distributed leaflets at the site protesting its decision to use recorded music instead of live musicians for a production of a classical music production, which stated that the patrons paid for and deserved to “DEMAND LIVE MUSIC!” The site owner had prohibited the symphony’s employees from distributing leaflets anywhere on its property.

For the first time in years the NLRB’s five-member Board, which decides cases and enacts regulations, has a Democratic majority.  The Board will decide cases as presented.  It is expected that case rulings will revise legal standards applicable to the workplace and reverse decisions from the previous Administration and the previous Republican majority on the Board. 

On February 25th, the National Labor Relations Board unanimously vacated its December 2017 ruling in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd., which determined standards for establishing joint employer relationships. This action was taken after the NLRB’s Inspector General reported that Board member William Emanuel had a conflict of interest when he ruled on the case.

The National Labor Relations Board is considering modifying its case processing procedures in ways that could benefit employers, according to an internal NLRB memorandum obtained by the paid subscription service Bloomberg Law.

On January 12, President Trump selected Republican John Ring to fill the vacancy created last month by Philip Miscimarra's departure from the five-member National Labor Relations Board. If Ring is confirmed by the Senate, the NLRB will have three Republican and two Democrat members.

On Friday night, right before Chairman Philip Miscimarra’s term ended with the National Labor Relations Board, the Board capped its flurry of rulings by issuing one more decision favorable to employers: PCC Structurals, Inc., 365 NRLB No. 160 (Dec. 15, 2017). This decision overruled the NLRB’s 2011 Specialty Healthcare ruling that permitted unions to organize “micro-units” of employees for voting purposes unless the employer could prove an “overwhelming community of interest” between the petitioned-for employees and other employees. Because it was almost impossible to prove an overwhelming community of interest and because the resulting micro-units frequently were those employees most favorable to unionization, employers often faced a difficult challenge contacting a union’s grouping of employees for organizing.

The National Labor Relations Board gained a Republican majority less than three months ago, but has already disposed of many of the prior Administration’s labor law rules. Just this past week, the NLRB issued 13 decisions, including several important rulings favorable to employers. This bevy of rulings is understandable, given that NLRB Chairman Philip Miscimarra, a Republican, retired on Friday.

In ...

Last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed Peter Robb as General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Robb previously represented employers in labor law matters. As General Counsel, Robb will oversee the NLRB in its headquarters in Washington, DC and in its field offices throughout the country. The NLRB’s former General Counsel, Obama-appointee Richard Griffin, had previously served as ...

It seems to be increasingly the case that employers find themselves facing conflicting demands from labor unions for assignments of work.  Such competing claims are often referred to as jurisdictional disputes.  In other circumstances, employers may find themselves faced with a labor union’s claims that the employer does not provide employees with “area standard” wages or benefits.  While often ...

Employers that have become exasperated at the regulatory zeal of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the area of workplace policies scored a welcome victory in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  In T-Mobile USA, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 2017 WL 3138612 (5th Cir. July 25, 2017), the Fifth Circuit refused to enforce an NLRB order that declared that an employee handbook policy requiring ...