Today, in perhaps the most significant change in federal labor law in more than 50 years, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) announced a new framework that determines when employers are required to recognize and bargain with a union upon demand, without a representation election. Continue Reading Unionization Upon Demand:NLRB Announces Most Significant Change to Labor Law in 50 Years
On September 30, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) held that employers violate Section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act when they cease dues checkoff after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement. Valley Hospital Medical Center, Inc., 371 NLRB No. 160 (“Valley Hospital II”). The split decision came on remand from the Ninth Circuit after protracted litigation in federal courts.Continue Reading NLRB Rules No Unilateral Changes to Dues Checkoff After Contract Expiration
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has updated the test to be used by its Regional Offices for determining whether purported safety concerns related to COVID-19 justify conducting a union election by mail ballot rather than by an in-person manual election. In a move most employers view as long overdue, the NLRB will no longer review the 14-day trend in new reported cases and the local testing positivity rate, and will instead look to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Community Risk Tracker which designates counties as having “Low,” “Medium,” or “High” community transmission risk. Starbucks Corporation, 371 NLRB No. 154 (Sept. 29, 2022). Under the new test, mail ballots will ordinarily be ordered when the CDC’s tracker shows a “High” community risk level. A level of “Low” or “Medium” would not ordinarily warrant a mail ballot. The new test should result in an immediate decrease in the number of mail ballot elections directed by the NLRB and a corresponding increase in the number of in-person manual elections.Continue Reading NLRB Ditches COVID Positivity Rates as Factor Justifying Mail Ballot Elections