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Union Agency Fees & Lobbying

In the 27 right to work states, currently in the country, union nonmembers may not be required to pay  fees to private sector unions as a condition to obtain or retain employment. In the rest of the states  – union security states –  private sector unions and employers may enter into agreements that require nonmembers to […]

JM
Of Counsel

Picketing Threats

Letters from unions to owners, general contractors, and other contractors informing them of the union’s dispute with one or more of the subcontractors, working at a common construction project site (or common situs), and of the union’s  plans to engage in  “public informational campaigns”  at the site, in furtherance of the dispute, may constitute unlawful […]

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JM
Of Counsel

NLRB’s Email Rule May Be Coming to an End

In its 2014 decision Purple Communications Inc. and Communication Workers of America, the NLRB ruled that employees could generally use employers’ email systems to organize or engage in other concerted activities protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, overturning board precedent and causing employers everywhere to scramble to update employee handbooks and […]

Extraction of Agency Fees from Non-Consenting Public Employees is Unconstitutional

In Janus v AFSCME , U.S. No. 16-1466, the Supreme Court held on June 27, 2018 that  States and public sector unions  may no longer extract agency fees from non-consenting employees. Such extractions violate the employees’ First Amendment  right to free speech. The decision, delivered by Justice Alito and joined by Justices Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas […]

JM
Of Counsel

Workplace Word: The U.S. Supreme Court and the “Fate of the Union”

Check out the latest edition of Snell & Wilmer’s Workplace Word – see here. This edition explores the recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court concerning whether nonunion employees working in the public sector should have to pay partial union dues. The decision could severely impact the status of unions, and the deciding vote […]

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Labor Law Meets the NFL Anthem Protests

Recently, Jerry Jones – the outspoken owner of the Dallas Cowboys – announced an official policy that any of his players who kneeled during the national anthem would be benched. On October 11, United Labor Unions Local 100, based in Texas, filed an unfair labor practice charge with National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) asserting that […]

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CM
Former Associate
JM
Of Counsel

NLRB Deferral Rules to Arbitration

Many employers are unsure about the NLRB’s deferral to arbitration rules. For nearly 60 years the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had applied the “Spielberg/Olin” standard in cases involving whether to defer to a decision reached through a grievance/arbitration procedure in a union contract. Under this standard, the NLRB would defer IF the following factors […]

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JM
Of Counsel

Forecasted Changes with a Republican NLRB

With the confirmation of William Emanuel by the Senate on September 25, 2017, the NLRB has a Republican majority. Democrat/union lawyer members had been in the majority for many years. Republican Marvin Kaplan had been confirmed by the Senate on August 2, 2017, and the Republican member Phillip Miscimarra was appointed Chairman by the President […]

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JM
Of Counsel