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Labor Relations / Unions

No separate notice for nonmembers required for midyear union dues assessment

01/28/2011
What happens if a union passes a dues increase in the middle of the year—perhaps in an election year? Can the union collect the increased amount and then adjust it at the beginning of the next year? According to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, that’s exactly the way to handle the increase.

Union wants nonmember employee names? Send opt-out forms so employees can choose

01/28/2011

When a union asks an employer for the names and contact information of employees who do not belong to the union, employers must first inform the employees of the request and give them an opportunity to object, according to a recent California Court of Appeal decision.

NLRB to decide: Are Facebook posts protected discussions?

01/26/2011
Let’s say one of your union employees has used her own computer to make negative comments about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. Co-workers—Facebook friends of the employee—see the posts and start chiming in with further smears. Can you lawfully terminate these employees for violating your social media policy? Probably not.

SCLC gets involved in Dana Corp. discrimination claims

01/11/2011
Bishop Richard E. Cox, president of the Dayton chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a member of the group’s national board, has intervened in a dispute between Maumee-based Dana Corp., the union that represents workers there and black current and former employees.

Proceed with care during union negotiations

01/07/2011

Here’s a warning to employers facing a union for the first time. Get an attorney right away and rely on his or her advice to guide your actions. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued a tough decision requiring an employer to rehire employees it terminated during a strike.

Three’s a crowd: Can an employee bring someone else along to his performance appraisal?

01/07/2011
Q. An employee has asked to have his wife present during his performance evaluation. Does he have the right to bring a representative?

Arnold’s last act: New contract scales back state pensions

12/21/2010
Members of Local 1000 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents 95,000 California state employees, have voted to accept a new labor contract that features significant pension reforms sought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

NLRB slaps $1.3 million penalty on Wilshire Plaza

12/21/2010
The Wilshire Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles will pay more than $1.3 million following a National Labor Relations Board ruling that it engaged in unfair labor practices during contract negotiations with a hotel workers union.

Lights, camera, contract! Actors unions weigh new agreement

12/21/2010
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have announced that they recently reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the largest Hollywood producers’ group.

2 Bensalem facilities closed after labor talks break down

12/13/2010

Express Scripts will close a second Bensalem facility on Feb. 1 following a union rejection of the company’s final contract offer to employees at the mail order pharmacy. Added to a Dec. 16 closing of another prescription-processing plant in Bensalem, the second shutdown means Express Scripts has shed 992 jobs in Pennsylvania.