In State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition v. Rowland I/O as Governor of the State of Connecticut, Connecticut Governor Dannell Molloy attempted to extract $450 million in long-term concessions from the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) and 13 other public employee unions during the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement. Notably, these unions represented 40,000 Connecticut state employees. The Governor advised the plaintiffs that unless they agreed to the concessions, he would fire approximately 3,000 unionized state employees. When the plaintiffs not only failed to agree to the Governor’s proposed concessions but also offered alternative concessions, the Governor ordered the firing of approximately 2,800 union employees.
Articles Discussing General Labor Law Topics And The NLRA.
Legal Alert: Federal Contractors Not Released from Notice Posting Requirement
Executive Summary: Although the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision invalidating the Nation Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) notice posting requirement means that private employers currently are relieved of this obligation, the ruling did not create a reprieve for federal contractors.
D.C. Circuit Strikes Down NLRB Poster Requirement
The divergence of opinion between the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has just widened considerably. Three months after the D.C. Circuit ruled that certain board actions were invalid due to constitutionally invalid appointments by President Barack Obama (Noel Canning v. NLRB), the court, in National Association of Manufacturers v. NLRB, has invalidated a 2012 board rule providing that: 1) any employers subject to the board’s jurisdiction would be liable for an unfair labor practice if they did not post on their properties and on their websites a “Notification of Employee Rights under the National Labor Relations Act;” 2) the failure to post would toll the six-month statute of limitations for filing an unfair labor practice charge; and 3) the board may consider an employer’s knowing and willing refusal to comply with the posting requirement as “evidence of unlawful motive in a case in which motive is an issue.”
Legal Alert: Federal Appeals Court Strikes NLRB’s Notice Posting Rule
Executive Summary: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the National Labor Relations Board’s rule requiring employers to post a Notice of Employee Rights under the NLRA because it violates employers’ free speech rights. See National Ass’n of Manufacturers v. NLRB (May 7, 2013). The court also found invalid the rule’s provision permitting tolling of the statute of limitations for an unfair labor practice if the employer failed to post the Notice.
Legal Alert: NLRB Judge Finds Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Employment Agreement Violate NLRA
Executive Summary: Employers who seek to protect their confidential business information and their reputations by requiring employees to sign employment agreements containing confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses may now face opposition from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In Quicken Loans (January 8, 2013), an ALJ in the NLRB’s Phoenix region held that such clauses violate section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because they tend to chill employees’ exercise of their Section 7 rights.
Legal Alert: New Board Policy Permits Front Pay to be Included in Settlement Agreements
Executive Summary: A recent Memorandum issued by the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon may reflect a subtle effort by the Board to encourage the recovery of front pay for individuals claiming they were unlawfully fired or disciplined. GC 13-02, issued January 9, 2013, modifies existing policy to permit Board settlements to include front pay instead of requiring such agreements to be set forth in non-Board “side letters,” which was the prior practice.