Posts tagged federal labor law
Legendary Los Angeles Restaurant the Original Pantry Cafe Suddenly Closes After 101 Years
March 6, 2025 // When Riordan passed away in 2023, his family’s trust assumed ownership and planned to sell the restaurant to fund its philanthropic operations. Even after its closure yesterday, union workers protested in front of the restaurant past 6 p.m. Unite Here, which represents the workers, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on February 7 with allegations that the closure violates federal labor law. On February 25, the NLRB dismissed the charge due to “lack of cooperation from the Charging Party.” The union can still appeal the decision. Back in April 2023, a few weeks before Riordan died, a class-action lawsuit alleging unpaid overtime, rest, and meal breaks was filed on behalf of workers; the case remained in settlement talks as of February 2025.
White Coats Take a Cue From Blue Collars
February 26, 2025 // Harking back to the emergence of physician unions, we're seeing a resurgence of interest among resident physicians in hospitals across the country. To varying degrees, U.S. hospitals still require resident physicians to work long, irregular hours (in some cases as many as 80 hours a week). In combination with other adverse workplace issues, this has led to house staff dissatisfaction with the status quo and, ultimately, to unionization.
Eaton Employee Forces IAM Union Bosses to Abandon Illegal Termination & Fine Threats
February 24, 2025 // Robert Jacobs, an employee of power management firm Eaton Corporation at its Troy, Illinois, facility, has forced International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials to back off their threats to fire him unless he paid hundreds in illegal fees they imposed on him after he exercised his right to end his union membership. Jacobs filed federal charges in January challenging the union’s so-called “reinstatement fee” threats at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He received free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
Trump fires US labor board member, hobbling agency amid legal battles
January 28, 2025 // As a board member, Wilcox voted to bar employers from holding mandatory anti-union meetings, to create a new path for unions to represent workers outside of the decades-old election process, and to make it easier to require companies to bargain with contract and franchise workers. Abruzzo in a statement said the board's efforts to empower workers in recent years would have a lasting impact. "So, if the Agency does not fully effectuate its congressional mandate in the future as we did during my tenure, I expect that workers with assistance from their advocates will take matters into their own hands," she said.
THE TRUMP EFFECT: DARTMOUTH HOOPERS WON’T BE UNIONIZING!
January 3, 2025 // The fight to deem athletes employees isn’t over yet. The Johnson v. NCAA case over athlete employment status is still pending in the federal court system, and a growing chorus of coaches and players (including those involved in the House v. NCAA settlement) have begun to call for collective bargaining. The NCAA and power conferences will continue their multimillion-dollar lobbying push in Congress to pass a law deeming athletes amateurs for good. Their chances of succeeding will be higher with a Republican majority in both houses and Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) as head of the Senate Commerce Committee—though not guaranteed. Labor unions could also mount a lobbying push against the NCAA.
CWA Local 7901 emerges from trusteeship
December 26, 2024 // Local 7901 was placed in trusteeship in August 2023 at the request of three of its area vice presidents. A trusteeship is the suspension of local elected leaders by a national union, which then appoints trustees to temporarily take charge. Trusteeships are regulated by federal labor law and are supposed to restore democratic procedures, correct corruption or financial malpractice, or rebuild a union that’s failing to perform basic functions.
Unionization of 1199SEIU’s own staff exposes internal tensions
November 22, 2024 // The in-house staff union has a formal unfair labor practice charge pending with the National Labor Relations Board over Hemmings’ termination. A second pending charge alleges that 1199SEIU officers were unlawfully polling employees to gauge their support for the in-house staff union. Another accuses 1199SEIU of changing a policy around paid leave and remote work, in violation of “status quo” protections for employees.
Starbucks Barista Asks Labor Board to Overturn Regional Official’s Decision to Continue Blocking Vote to Remove Union
November 21, 2024 // Smith’s appeal challenges the regional NLRB’s refusal to reinstate her decertification petition, which it is still stonewalling despite the resolution of SBWU union officials’ charges against Starbucks that were ostensibly the justification for blocking the workers’ petition for a vote to remove the union. Smith argues that the decision is inconsistent not only with the Board’s past reasons for holding up the petition, but also with workers’ right under federal labor law to promptly have an election to remove a union they do not want.
Commentary: Plan B is Activated
November 19, 2024 // They are now turning to Plan B, which is sectoral organizing. And they notched a big win in the recent election with a ballot proposition in Massachusetts—a win that the mainstream media is heralding as a good thing. In fact, the same pro-union media bias that we saw with reclassification attempts such as Assembly Bill 5 and the PRO Act is simply resetting and restarting anew. Now, it’s being used to promote this other way of trying to limit self-employment.
How Will the U.S. Election Outcome Affect Labor Law? A Deep Dive into the NLRB’s Future
November 19, 2024 // The NLRB’s policy agenda is almost certain to shift. The new General Counsel will likely take a different approach to several key labor issues that the current NLRB has made a priority. For example, current General Counsel Abruzzo pursued aggressive enforcement actions against restrictive covenants, like non-compete and nonsolicitation agreements, following her May 2023 memo where she articulated her view that restrictive covenants like non-competes “generally violate federal labor law.” The new General Counsel will almost certainly halt enforcement of this position and several others when the new administration takes control.