Posts tagged federal labor law
Flight Attendant Asks SCOTUS to Hear Case Challenging Union Boss Scheme to Discriminate Against Nonmembers
April 24, 2025 // “Mr. Bahreman’s case shows how deep the rabbit-hole of union boss legal privileges goes,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The Ninth Circuit’s decision turns the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘duty of fair representation’ on its head, and exposes the underlying constitutional tensions that the Court identified long ago in the 1944 Steele High Court decision. “Originally created in Steele as a bulwark against union bosses wielding their monopoly representation and forced dues powers to discriminate, the Ninth Circuit’s reinterpretation of the DFR doctrine allows union officials to engage in discrimination to coerce fee payment from union dissidents,” added Mix. “The Supreme Court should take Mr. Bahreman’s case to settle the circuit split and make it clear that Big Labor officials cannot wield their extraordinary government-granted powers to undermine the working conditions of workers who oppose union affiliation.”
UR graduate student workers hold informational picket ahead of strike
April 17, 2025 // If the university doesn’t agree to hold an election, union organizers would need to ask the National Labor Relations Board to organize one. Organizers say a Trump-era NLRB would be unlikely to grant an election agreement because, during President Trump’s first term, he sought to exclude student workers from unionizing. If Trump fills the three vacant positions on the five-member NLRB, it would have a conservative majority. The university says entering a private election agreement would be unprecedented for the campus. According to UR administration, all current unions on campus became official after asking the NLRB for an election, rather than asking the university directly.
CDW Leads Letter Supporting Crystal Carey Nomination
April 16, 2025 // The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) and the 20 undersigned organizations urge your support for the nomination of Crystal Carey to serve as the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Carey is well-qualified to serve and will be an asset to the Board in this role. We urge your support for her nomination.
Writers Guild West Names Members Who’ve Been Expelled or Disciplined for Breaking Strike Rules
April 14, 2025 // The Writers Guild of America West has gone public with its discipline of six union members for allegedly writing during the labor group’s 2023 strike and one for a purported constitutional violation, a move that four writers have appealed, with one saying he was “punished for being transparent.” Writers Julie Bush, Tim Doyle, Edward Drake and Roma Roth have all sought to overturn disciplinary rulings from the union’s board of directors, which followed hearings before five-member trial juries and investigations from a committee aimed at uncovering authorized work during the strike. The union announced the discipline and appeals to members on Friday.
US Supreme Court clears way for Trump to remove two Democratic members of labor boards for now
April 10, 2025 // Trump's efforts to remove Harris have threatened to leave the board without a two-seat quorum - making it unable to decide cases - after the term of Democratic member Raymond Limon expired on February 28. In ruling in favor of Harris, Contreras said the statutory protections for board members from being removed without cause conform with the Constitution in light of a 1935 Supreme Court precedent in a case called Humphrey's Executor v. United States. In that case, the court ruled that a president lacks unfettered power to remove commissioners of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, faulting then-President Franklin Roosevelt's firing of an FTC commissioner for policy differences.
Third AT&T-BellSouth Worker Hits CWA Union With Federal Charges, Challenges Thousands in Illegal Strike Fines
March 30, 2025 // Henry Gonzalez, an employee of AT&T-BellSouth in Miami, has just hit the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union in his workplace with federal charges – the third worker to do so in just a month. Gonzalez’s charges, which were filed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, describe how CWA union officials are wrongfully targeting him with thousands of dollars in disciplinary fines for not participating in a strike.
NY Starbucks Baristas File Amicus Brief Opposing Reinstatement of Biden-Appointed NLRB Member Removed by President Trump
March 13, 2025 // Starbucks employees have pending federal lawsuit challenging NLRB structure as unconstitutional, argue they could be harmed if member’s removal is blocked
Marshall mum on Senator Hawley’s Pro-Worker framework
March 11, 2025 // According to Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute of the American Worker, the Pro-Worker Framework has been largely lifted straight from the PRO Act. “I mean, now I guess the question is, do you refer to most of these provisions as the PRO Act, or do you refer to them as the Pro Act and the Hawley framework?” Vernuccio said in a phone interview. “Because it looks like Senator (Josh) Hawley from Missouri is copying and pasting a bunch of sections into his new framework.” Vernuccio said only one bill related to this has been introduced so far — the “Faster Labor Contracts Act S.844,” which, among other things, deals with government-imposed contracts by binding arbitration — but the Framework has several other provisions indicating that the concepts are copied and pasted directly from the PRO Act.
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.
GOP lawmakers demand info on Biden-era spending used to declare student-athletes as employees
March 3, 2025 // While the change in how college athletes are treated has been welcomed by many, others have been concerned about the move's potential implications. Earlier this month, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden administration NLRB's September 2021 memo insisting college athletes be recognized as employees under federal labor laws. The Trump administration this month also revoked guidance issued by President Joe Biden on his way out of the White House that required schools to distribute direct NIL payments equally to female and male athletes. Aaron Withe, an expert in government unionization and a former college athlete, said he fears continued momentum toward viewing college athletes as strictly employees will destroy college sports. "Are unions going to step in between a coach and their athletes for yelling at the players, or because practice went long or because they're making them run an exceptional amount of lines?" Withe wondered. "If you're represented by a union, they're now your bargaining agent. You have no ability to go represent yourself in anything with the university if it is deemed they are your employer. You've got no ability to go negotiate with them anymore."