Posts tagged federal labor law
Keeping Workers in the Dark: The Push for Employer Neutrality in Union Campaigns
September 30, 2026 // Whether or not one supports unionization in a particular workplace, elected officials should not pressure one party in a labor dispute to relinquish rights recognized to balance competing interests. The law recognizes rights and responsibilities for employees, unions, and employers alike. Yet calls for neutrality almost always run in one direction: in favor of organized labor. There is rarely a corresponding demand that unions remain neutral. Instead, neutrality initiatives frequently seek to silence only one side of the debate. The answer to competing claims should be more information, not less. Collective bargaining can involve difficult or protracted negotiations and may affect workplace flexibility, labor costs, wages, benefits, and business operations.
Biden’s NLRB stole workers’ secret ballot. It’s time to give it back
September 8, 2026 // It’s hard to overstate how harmful — and insulting — the Cemex decision has been to workers. Before the Biden-era NLRB handed down this decision, unionization elections typically followed a straightforward process. Unions kicked things off by convincing workers to sign cards in support of unionization. The union then presents the cards to the employer, demanding that management recognize the union via “card check” or hold a secret-ballot election.
Chicago History Museum workers ratify first union contract
August 28, 2026 // In May, the National Labor Relations Board issued a rare formal complaint, alleging that under the museum’s previous president, Donald Lassere, management retaliated against employees who voted to unionize in 2025. Shortly after that vote, four employees were fired, while others were disciplined or threatened with termination, according to the NLRB. The board found the museum violated federal labor laws.
This Mamdani-Backed Bill Would Kill Jobs, Boost Unions, and Make Deliveries More Expensive
August 25, 2026 // The misleadingly named "Delivery Protection Act" would require companies like Amazon and FedEx to directly hire employees for last-mile delivery, rather than contracting this service out to subcontractors.
SSM Health appealing certification of union vote at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison
August 6, 2026 // National Labor Relations Board staff certified the union election late last month after nurses voted 511-63 to unionize with the Service Employees International Union of Wisconsin. SSM Health filed objections to the election with the NLRB, but the labor board overruled the objections in their “entirety” because SSM provided “insufficient” proof.
Ride-Booking Unions Raise Specter of Same for Other Gig Workers
August 6, 2026 // Wilson called the effort in Massachusetts “a windfall for the union.” The union holds an exclusive franchise over every ride-booking driver in the state, and the law orders companies to deduct dues and hand them over, he said. “Dues are technically voluntary. But we know how ‘voluntary’ runs in right-to-work states, where unions still lean on the holdouts anyway: public free-rider lists, name-and-shame, peer pressure, the works. Expect the same here.”
Union and Troubled Home Care Company Maintained Close Partnership, Records Show
July 21, 2026 // Home health aides the company employs have decried missed paychecks, glitchy software, and hours-long waits on the phone, among other issues. Last month, PPL agreed to a $162 million settlement to resolve claims of wage theft, and the US Department of Justice sued the company, alleging Medicaid fraud. The powerful health care union 1199SEIU is currently seeking to unionize PPL’s roughly 200,000 workers, who care for disabled and elderly New Yorkers. But 1199 has also been working closely with the PPL for years, according to internal records obtained by New York Focus.
Independent Women’s Voice Supports the Confirmation of Keith Sonderling as Secretary of Labor
July 12, 2026 // Critically, Sonderling understands that our dynamic economy is ever-evolving to create opportunities for Americans to work on their own terms. A third of the U.S. workforce has freelanced in the last year, with a significant proportion being women. Independent contracting allows women to support themselves while balancing important priorities such as caregiving for loved ones and managing their health issues. He will ensure that federal policy respects freedom, flexibility, and economic opportunity for American workers.
Faster is Not Always Better: House Passes Bill Seeking Radical Change in First Contract Bargaining
June 17, 2026 // The bill also raises questions about the lawfulness of strikes and lockouts during these first contract negotiations. Typically, where parties agree to interest arbitration (or where it exists in the public sector) it is premised on a mutual commitment of labor peace, i.e., the union will not go on strike, and the employer will not lock employees out while negotiations are ongoing and the arbitration is pending. However, in the private sector and in the absence of such a mutual commitment, both such economic weapons may be used offensively in furtherance of a party’s bargaining demand. The FLCA does not explain if or how a party may exercise such an economic weapon in furtherance of their bargaining position if the dispute will be submitted to an FMCS panel for binding interest arbitration. Equally troubling is the FLCA’s potential impact on unilateral implementation. Unilateral implementation upon reaching a good-faith bargaining impasse has long been a vital bargaining tool for employers. The possibility of implementing terms when negotiations stall has been an effective tool to encourage the parties to continue making movement towards the other. Eliminating this option will alter bargaining leverage and strategies particularly in successor contracts where the FLCA’s temporal framework does not apply.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act violates the principles of voluntary agreement
June 8, 2026 // Most troublingly, the bill would do real harm to the very workers its supporters claim to help. Workers are often told that unionizing will give them a greater voice in the workplace. They are promised a seat at the table and a meaningful role in shaping the terms and conditions of their employment. But under the Faster Labor Contracts Act, workers would lose one of the most important forms of workplace democracy — the right to vote on the contract that governs their jobs. That loss of voice has far-reaching implications: In an industry that supports 55 million working Americans, it affects not only retail workers but also the employers that depend on a stable and collaborative workforce. If bargaining reaches the FLCA’s deadline, workers would be shut out of the process entirely. They would have no right to ratify the agreement, no right to reject it, no right to demand changes, and no meaningful ability to influence the final outcome.