Total Articles: 7
Federal Court Holds An Employer May Sue The Union
In a very recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer was not required to arbitrate a claim against the Union. In Jim Walter Resources, Inc. v. United Mine Workers of America International Union, et al, the Court held that in the absence of specific language requiring the employer to arbitrate any grievances against the Union, the employer was permitted to bring a lawsuit against the Union.
Union Statistics for 2010
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its 2010 report on labor unions. The most important statistic for many is overall union membership, i.e., the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of a union. Union membership in 2010 was 11.9%, down from 12.3% in 2009.
Supreme Court Holds That International Unions Are Not Accountable For Inducing Locals To Violate Collective Bargaining Agreements.
In the final labor and employment law decision for the 2009-10 term, on June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court held that a unionized employer may not pursue an action against an international union for inciting a local union to violate the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. The Supreme Court also held that it was a court's job (rather than an arbitrator's job) to determine whether a collective bargaining agreement with an arbitration clause was actually entered into.
Supreme Court Rules That States May Prohibit Dues Deductions For Unions' Political Activities.
On February 24, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of the state of Idaho, which has a right-to-work law generally permitting payroll deductions for union dues, to prohibit such deductions for union political activities. This decision underscores the rights of states to separate the operation of government from partisan politics, even in the context of local governments having public-union labor contracts with dues check-off provisions.
SEIU Forms New National Healthcare Union.
On January 29th, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced it will be forming a national healthcare union, which they predict will be composed of nearly 1 million members by the end of this year.
State Of The Unions 2005 -- A House Divided Plans To Expand (pdf).
On Labor Day 2005, organized labor
was at a low ebb. Between 1935 (when
the Wagner Act was passed) and 1954,
organized labor’s rise was meteoric,
from representing less than 10 percent
of the private sector workforce to
about 35 percent. In 1955, the house of
labor united when the American Federation
of Labor and the Congress of
Industrial Organizations joined forces
to become the AFL-CIO.
Louisiana Employment Law Letter: Effect of AFL-CIO breakup on employers uncertain (pdf).
A growing rift between the member unions of the AFLCIO
has finally culminated in three major unions breaking
away from the formerly 60-member labor federation. The rebellion
by the renegade unions — the Service Employees International
Union (SEIU), the United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW), and the United Brotherhood of Teamsters
— is being led by SEIU president Andrew L. Stern, who a little
over a year ago first upset other union leaders by issuing a
call for radical changes in their priorities.
