Labor Relations Law Blog

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. 

While organized labor was dealt a major setback by the Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME, the landmark ruling does not impact the legality of union security clauses in the private sector.    In Janus, the Supreme Court held that the state’s extraction of union dues from non-consenting public employees violates the First Amendment.  The Court overruled Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), which held that state and local governments could lawfully require public employees to pay “agency fees” as a condition of continued employment.  Agency fees are intended to cover costs related to contract negotiation, grievance processing, and contract administration, but are meant to exclude costs related to union lobbying and political activism.  Following Janus, public employees can no longer be compelled to contribute any dues to unions, including so-called agency fees.