Labor Relations / Unions

Has the decline of organized labor been mostly good or bad?

05/06/2015

Only 11.1% of Americans belonged to a labor union in 2013, down from 20.1% in 1983 and an all-time high of 34.8% in 1954.

NLRB rules against Pennsylvania-American Water

04/29/2015

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Pennsylvania-American Water Co. violated the National Labor Relations Act when it disciplined two Pittsburgh-area workers for refusing to cross a picket line. The board also censured the company for removing a union letter from a bulletin board.

House, Senate bills would short-circuit NLRB ‘ambush’ elections

04/20/2015

On the day new National Labor Relations Board rules took effect, dramatically speeding up the union election process, members of both houses of Congress introduced legislation to slow it back down.

NLRB’s ‘ambush’ election rules take effect

04/16/2015

If you don’t have a plan in place to respond to a union organizing campaign, now’s a time to draft one. On April 14, controversial new National Labor Relations Board rules took effect, dramatically speeding up the time between initial filing of a union election petition and actual balloting.

NLRB releases rules for recently enacted ‘ambush’ elections

04/14/2015

The National Labor Relations Board has released guidance on how its new, controversial “ambush” election rules will work, and the procedures are as bad as many employers feared.

Waste company can’t make workers pay for truck damage

04/06/2015

Three Middletown-based trash hauling businesses have settled with a labor union that says its members were wrongly made to pay for damage to garbage trucks.

Can I refuse to hire union members?

03/10/2015

Q. I am considering hiring an applicant to work at my steel refinery. The only problem is that he is affiliated with a local trade union, and I am doing everything I can to keep my business union-free. Can I refuse to hire him for this reason?

‘No’ vote on ambush union elections

03/10/2015

The Senate voted March 4 to spike a new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule that critics say promotes “quickie” union elections.

Appeal of firing doesn’t give worker more time to sue

03/03/2015

Employees who use a post-termination appeal process don’t have a pass to miss EEOC filing deadlines. The clock doesn’t wait to start ticking until the appeal process is finished. They still have to file their agency complaints within 300 days of discharge.

NLRB piles on joint-employer charges against McDonald’s

02/18/2015

The National Labor Relations Board has upped the ante in its ongoing effort to brand McDonald’s USA a joint employer along with its franchisees in a series of claims that the fast-food giant engages in unfair labor practices.