February 17 Roundtable Meeting
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The document discusses recent actions by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that expand its power and support unions. It notes that since President Obama's appointees took control, the NLRB has taken an "extraordinary expansion" of its authority. Examples include overturning precedents to make union organizing easier, expanding the definition of protected concerted activity, more aggressively enforcing labor laws against employers, considering new rules like requiring employers to post notices about union organizing rights, and signaling plans to reconsider precedents in areas like successor employers and voluntary union recognition. Critics argue the NLRB has abandoned neutrality and embraced an activist pro-union agenda, while supporters say the board is returning to life after a period of dormancy
February 17 Roundtable Meeting
- 1. hLabor board gone wild!TWIN CITIES LABOR RELATIONS ROUNDTABLEJohn F. Bowen Charles E. FeussFebruary 17, 2011
- 2. TWIN CITIES LABOR RELATIONS ROUNDTABLEUNIONIZATION CONTINUES ITS DECLINE!34.7%6.9%Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 3. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!LABOR LAWNLRB IN THE NEWS!Impartial Labor Board Exposes Very Pro-Union AgendaBoard Member Mark Pearce advocated that the NLRB adopt Canadian-style quickie five or ten day union representation elections (Oct 22, 2010 Suffolk University Law School)
- 4. Board Schilling for Card Check? NLRB challenged States that enacted Secret Ballot Amendments to guarantee that employees have the right to vote on union representation House Committee Holds Hearings on Recent NLRB ActivityHouse Committee on Education and the Workforce held hearings on February 11Board has abandoned its traditional sense of fairness and neutrality and instead embraced a far-more activist approach. Opening Statement, Chairman Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN)Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 5. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!LABOR LAWNLRB IN THE NEWS!Impartial Labor Board Exposes Very Pro-Union AgendaNLRB Chair Wilma Liebman on February 11, 2011 in response to the House Committee Hearings:The most significant emerging trend at the NLRB is that the agency is coming back to life after a long period of dormancy.Board Member Wilma Liebman in 2004 in response to Bush-era Board decisions:Although the Board should overturn precedent in order to address changing circumstances, a mere change in the composition of the Board does not justify knee jerk or reflexive actions to overturn Clinton-era board rulings. . . . The Board majority has treated recent precedent as having the jurisprudential force of a post it note.Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 6. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!AN UNPRECEDENTED EXPANSION OF POWER BY THE NLRBSince President Obamas appointees assumed control of the Labor Board earlier this year, we have seen an extraordinary expansion of NLRB power and authority. LABOR LAWPrimer on the NLRBFederal agency in charge of administering the NLRA
- 7. Five member panel composed of presidential appointees who serve staggered five-year terms
- 8. Chair Wilma Liebman | Marc Pearce I Craig Becker | Brian Hayes
- 9. Pending nomination for Terence Flynn
- 10. NLRB General Counsel (also appointed by the president)
- 11. Lafe Solomon
- 12. Regional Offices of the NLRB
- 13. 51 Regional, Sub-regional, and Resident officesTwin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 14. NLRB AUTHORITYDecision Making Authority: Primary source of Board authority comes though issuing decisions interpreting and enforcing the Act
- 15. Needs cases to come to it through the appeals process from cases decided at the Regional level
- 16. Political body Precedent tends to shift as Presidential administrations change
- 17. Liebman Board: Notice and Invitation to File Briefs
- 18. Signaling to labor unions the Boards desire and intent to change precedent
- 20. Historically rarely exercised
- 21. General Counsel
- 22. Independent from the Board, but . . .
- 23. Responsible for Regional investigation and prosecution of ULP charges
- 24. Supervises Regional Representation cases
- 25. Establishes Board legal policy through GC MemorandaTwin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 26. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!GENERAL COUNSEL MEMORANDAGC Memorandum 11-05: Guideline Memorandum Concerning Deferral to Arbitral Awards and Grievance Settlements in Section 8(a)(1) and (3) Cases (Jan 20, 2011)
- 27. GC Memorandum 11-04: Revised Casehandling Instructions Regarding the Use of Default Language in Informal Settlement Agreements and Compliance Settlement Agreements (Jan 12, 2011)
- 28. Auto default upon default
- 29. GC Memorandum 11-01: Effective Remedies in Organizing Campaigns (Dec 20, 2010)
- 30. Employer humiliation tactics as a means to achieve labor peace
- 31. GC Memorandum 10-07: Effective 10(j) Remedies for Unlawful Discharges in Organizing Campaigns
- 32. Expanded use of injunctionsTwin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 33. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!RECENT NLRB DECISIONSJR Flooring, Inc., 356 NLRB No. 9 (October 22, 2010)Employer must distribute remedial notices electronically when that is a customary means of communicating with employeesJackson Hospital Corp., 356 NLRB No. 8 (October 22, 2010)Daily compounding of interest in backpay awards, modifying the 50-year rule of assessing interest on a quarterly basisParexel International, 356 NLRB No. 82 (January 2011)Board determined that the firing of an employee who complained about wage discrepancies was a pre-emptive strike against potential concerted activity, and therefore unlawful under Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the ActThis not based on anything that the employer did, but on what the Board perceived to be the employers intent! Huge expansion of protected concerted activity under Section 7. Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 34. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!NLRB SOLICITATION OF BRIEFSSIGNALING THE OVERTURNING OF PRECEDENTNLRB TO RECONSIDER SUCCESSOR BAR DOCTRINEBoard Will Likely Overturn MV Transportation and Return To Precedent Established By Clinton Board in Elizabeth ManorBOARD TO RECONSIDER PROCEDURES FOR VOLUNTARY RECOGNITIONLiebman Board Will Likely Overturn Dana CorpDecision and return to voluntary recognition bar doctrineBOARD TO EXPAND UNION ACCESS TO EMPLOYER PROPERTY
- 35. Roundys Inc. and Milwaukee Building and Trades CouncilIf you allow girl scouts, you must allow the union organizer!NLRB TO CHANGE APPROACH TO BARGAINING UNIT DETERMINATIONS IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIESReview use of community of interest factors in non-acute care facilities, Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 36. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!NLRB RULEMAKING AUTHORITYNEW ORGANIZING RIGHTS POSTEROrganize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
- 37. Form, join or assist a union.
- 38. Bargain collectively through representatives of employees own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.
- 39. Discuss your terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.
- 40. Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union.
- 41. Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing.
- 42. Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union.Twin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 43. LABOR BOARD GONE WILD!NEW ORGANIZING RIGHTS POSTERTwin Cities Labor Relations Roundtable
- 44. QUESTIONS?
- 45. John F. Bowenjfbowen@johnfbowen.comCharles E. Feusscfeuss@felhaber.com