Total Articles: 11
ALJ Again Rules in Favor of Hospital in Closely Watched Flu Shot Case
As reported in this blog, the National Labor Relations Board recently reversed a 2006 administrative law judge (ALJ) decision that Virginia Mason Hospital was not required to bargain with the union over a flu prevention policy that required nurses to wear a facemask or take anti-viral medication, rejecting the argument that the policy went to the hospital’s “core purpose” of protecting its patients’ health and was narrowly tailored to achieve its purpose. The Board remanded the case back to the ALJ for consideration of the hospital’s other defenses to its unilateral implementation of the flu policy, and the ALJ issued a new opinion (case 19-CA-30154; JD(SF)-44-11).
Ninth Circuit Affirms Injunction Requiring New Hospital Owners to Recognize and Bargain with Prior CNA Bargaining Unit
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a district court did not abuse its discretion by issuing an injunction requiring the new owners of a community hospital to bargain with the California Nurses Association (CNA), which represented the majority of nurses employed under the previous ownership. Small v. Avanti Health Systems, LLC., 9th Cir., No. 11-55563 (10/31/11).
Social Media Cracks Door Open in Negotiations
Closed door negotiations may be relegated to the past if the United Auto Workers’ (U.A.W.) negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three automakers hold any keys to the future of business/labor negotiations. Until recently, the U.A.W. notified its members of negotiations and contract details at union hall meetings. Not surprisingly, many workers complained of not being able to digest the fine points of the contract until after ratification.
Ninth Circuit: Employer in Right-to-Work State May Not Unilaterally Discontinue Dues Checkoff During Contract Hiatus
In Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas, etc. v. National Labor Relations Board (Hacienda III), No. 10-72981 (9th Cir., Sept. 13, 2011), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit resolved a 15-year-old case, after three NLRB rulings and two remands, by holding that an employer in a right-to-work state, unlike employers in states where union security clauses are lawful, may not unilaterally discontinue dues checkoff after the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement.
Health Care Reform: Implications for Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector
This article analyzes the key rules under federal health care reform which are most likely to impact collective bargaining negotiations in the public sector in the future (or which may already impact current negotiations and labor relations). Part II discusses the law and its enforcement. Part III provides an overview of six key reforms and an explanation of what they mean for public sector employer group health plans. Part IV provides strategies, options, and warnings about how each of these six reforms should be considered in the collective bar- gaining process.
Public Sector Union Bargaining Rights Reform in the Midwest
The battles playing out in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan over public sector collective bargaining rights have dominated the news headlines over the past few months. Opponents of public sector unionism have argued that eliminating or significantly curtailing public employees’ collective bargaining rights is necessary to balance state budgets across the country. This article addresses developments in these Midwestern states and possible implications that restricted collective bargaining rights for public sector employees might have for organized labor as a whole.
Public Sector Union Bargaining Rights Reform Winds Its Way Through the Courts
The battles playing out in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan over public sector collective bargaining rights have dominated the news headlines over the past few months. Opponents of public sector unionism have argued that eliminating or significantly curtailing public employees’ collective bargaining rights is necessary to balance state budgets across the country. This article addresses developments in these Midwestern states and possible implications that restricted collective bargaining rights for public sector employees might have for organized labor as a whole.
Is Collective Bargaining On Its Way to the Public Sector?
The United States Senate is moving closer to passing new legislation which would mandate union "monopoly bargaining" for state and local public-safety employees. This legislation, known as the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 413, S. 3194) (PSEECA), would require nearly all state and local governments to pass legislation to allow collective bargaining with public safety employees (e.g., police, fire and emergency medical personnel) over wages, hours and terms of employment. The Act would allow the Federal Labor Relations Authority to establish mandatory collective bargaining rights for all public safety employees, should a state fail to act.
It's Not EFCA, But for Some Cities It Might Be Worse.
Because today, Senate Majority Leader offered the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act as an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act that is being considered by the Senate. The amendment (number 4147) could be voted on as early as tomorrow.
YWCA Violated Federal Labor Law By Refusing To Sign Collective Bargaining Agreement And Withdrawing Recognition To Union, Despite Evidence That Union Had Lost Majority Support.
In Young Womens Christian Assn of Western Massachusetts, the National Labor Relations Board (Board) upheld the decision of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) that the YWCA violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) by refusing to execute an agreed-upon collective-bargaining agreement and withdrawing recognition from the union when it received evidence that the union had lost the support of the majority of bargaining-unit employees after the parties had reached a final agreement.
Q & A -- Management rights clause and zipper clause (pdf).
A management rights clause reserves to the employer
the right to act in its discretion with respect to matters
related to operation of the business. A zipper clause
relieves both parties of the obligation, during the
contract term, to bargain over matters covered in the
contract or, if so worded, matters that were or could
have been discussed during bargaining, even if not
embodied in the contract. Each clause operates as a
waiver of the right to demand bargaining, over the life
of the contract, on subjects covered by the clause.
