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 Labor Relations INK
In this issue:
EFCA Update Labor Day Salute to Labor Hypocrisy Healthcare Employers Under Pressure Labor Relations Insight, Only In A Union and more…
Labor Relations Insight from Phil Wilson Week Of “Decisions”
 The NLRB issued two historical “decisions” last week. I put decision in quotes because neither one really counts as a “decision.” The only thing they decided (by a 3-2 party line vote on member Schaumber’s last day in office) was to punt two controversial “decisions” until they could get some feedback from experts in the field.
The first case they seek comment on is the Dana case
Continue reading INK: September 9, 2010
Unions may not have the physical size they used to, but they remain able to pack a huge punch with influence. For example, in the 2008 election unions donated over $400 million dollars to help elect Democratic candidates and President Obama. While Obama and Big Labor allies have not been able to deliver the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), he has nominated political appointees at the NMB, NLRB and DOL who have already taken steps to make it easier for unions to organize. The administration has already gone a long way toward paying back the donations received by the unions with labor friendly policies. In fact, “Obama asked Congress for another $50 billion, on top of what the stimulus already provided, to prevent states from firing employees.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is still the leading supporter for EFCA and claims it will pass during the lame duck
Continue reading Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours!
 This week the Department of Labor issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the form LM-30, the form unions file to report receipts from employers and disbursements to outside entities, as required by the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). These disclosures are intended to provide information to union members and the general public that can help them identify conflicts of interest.
 Currently the LM-30 rules are inadequate. While they were tightened in July of 2007, there were still a number of areas where large expenditures would go unreported (or could be lumped together without specific reporting). Not to mention the countless cases where union leaders simply don’t report the expenditures at all – but that’s a completely different problem altogether.
Continue reading DOL Rulemaking
Labor Relations INK
In this issue:
EFCA Update Corruption Runs Rampant In Carpenters Union Organizing Tactics Never Die… Scoreboard, SEIU Watch, Sticky Fingers and more…
EFCA Update
 Enthusiasm does not seem to be dissipating on either side of the EFCA struggle. The Big Labor/Dem camp had to duck hard as a national campaign strategist prophesied the loss of the House in the upcoming elections, inspiring incentive for pushing labor-agenda bills through the lame-duck Congress later this year.
Big Labor has been flexing its muscle with expanding use of shareholder resolutions, and it is expected to continue with such assaults, especially as a Continue reading INK: July 22, 2010
Actor Jimmy Smits, Obama’s Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union and Democratic Socialists of America member Dolores Huerta have all joined forces on a video asking workers to report labor violations whether they are “documented or not.” The three appear in a video explaining what to do if you are an undocumented worker and have an issue with wage discrimination.
First, let’s be clear. It is illegal for employers to hire undocumented workers and to violate labor laws, and those violations should be reported and corrected. However, it is interesting that the DOL is reaching out to undocumented workers for help reporting these violations, especially given the fact that DOL is partially in charge of enforcing the rules against hiring undocumented workers in the first place. Not only that, but during the Clinton administration these investigations turned into “shake-down”
Continue reading DOL: Fighting For Workers “Documented or Not”
Labor Relations INK
In this issue:
• EFCA Update • Nurses Union Wants Its Cake, And to Eat It To! • Political At Heart • SEIU Watch, ER Tip-Of-The-Month, Scoreboard, and more…
EFCA Update
 Just as some are discussing the Employee Free Choice Act “obituary” after Big Labor lost their political battle in Arkansas (over Blanche Lincoln), the political wheels in Washington just keep on turning, churning out additional ways to benefit unions.
As we reported, the NLRB floated a request for input on setting up a remote, electronic-voting procedure for NLRB elections.
Continue reading INK: June 24, 2010
Labor Relations INK
In This Issue:
EFCA Update Blunt Talk About Unions IAM Organizing Drive Goes “Net” Labor Relations Insight, ULP Charge of the Month, and more…
Labor Relations Insight from Phil Wilson
Have Unions Lost Their Political Mojo?
Mini Super Tuesday is now in the books, and unions have got to be feeling a little hung over after the $10 million dollar bender they just finished in Arkansas. So far the strategy to rescue their friends (aka Arlen Specter) and punish their foes (aka Blanche Lincoln) has notched a big goose egg on the scoreboard for 2010.
 The Specter debacle wasn’t really that bad.
Continue reading INK: June 10, 2010
 We just got a copy of the PowerPoint slides used at the Department of Labor Stakeholders Meeting held on Monday in Washington, D.C. You can download a copy of the DOL persuader presentation here.
The most important slides for employers are pages 9 and 10. The DOL’s position appears to be that the 203(e) exemption for employer reporting conflicts with Sections 203(a)(2) and 203(a)(3) that require reporting of activities of employees under certain circumstances.
We are working on an analysis of this issue for clients. We will keep you posted on the latest developments here.
  
Earlier today the Department of Labor (DOL) held an “open forum” to discuss proposed rule changes to consultant, attorney and now employer reporting of “persuasion and advice” activities regarding unions. The changes will require Law Firms and Consulting Firms to report many so-called “advice” activities as “persuasion” under section 203(c) of the Labor Management Reporting Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA).
In addition the DOL wants to change section 203(e) of the LMRDA to require employers to report when supervisors and managers speak about union issues to employees. That was part of the DOL presentation and remains a real possibility. It is important to note that failure to report these activities is a crime punishable by both fine and imprisonment.
We made the point that the employer requirement will be impossible to monitor in most companies and that there is no reason for the rule. The main reason
Continue reading Breaking: DOL Meeting to Squelch Employer Free Speech
Labor Relations INK
In this issue:
EFCA Update Stern Signs Off Truth & Disclosure SEIU Watch, ULP Charge Of The Month, Scoreboard and more…
EFCA Update
Claire Mccaskill
Speculation continues to spiral in just about every direction about the likelihood that “EFCA” will come to pass, either as legislation or as regulatory changes via the National Labor Relations Board. On the legislative side, Senator McCaskill (D – MO) summed up the legislative school of thought: “I don’t think that card-check is going to come up,” referencing the current session of Congress. However, as we have mentioned before, various elements of
Continue reading INK: April 22, 2010
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