The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Lubbock Division, has converted its nationwide preliminary injunction, issued on June 27, 2016, against the U.S. Department of Labor’s “persuader” rule into a nationwide permanent injunction. National Federation of Independent Business, et al. v. Perez, et al., No. 5:16-CV-00066-C (N.D. Tex. Nov. 16, 2016). The court found the rule “unlawful.”
Articles Discussing Labor Union Organizing.
Court Permanently Blocks DOL’s Persuader Rule
To the relief of many employers that rely on third parties to provide labor advice and services, a Texas federal court has permanently blocked a rule that would have required them to make certain disclosures about their consultants to the Department of Labor. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Perez, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the DOL’s “persuader” rule “should be held unlawful and set aside,” and that the temporary injunction the court issued in June to prevent the DOL from enforcing the rule be made permanent. As a result of this permanent injunction, employers—at least for the foreseeable future—do not need to comply with the consultant disclosure requirements.
union kNOw – November 2016
With a few keystrokes, www.UnionizeMe.org is connecting like-minded employees of the same retail employers in a given area who are interested in forming a union. For an employee, the entire process may take no more than five minutes.
Student Assistants Win Right to Unionize at Private Colleges and Universities
Reversing longstanding precedent, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that students “who have a common-law employment relationship with their university are statutory employees under the [National Labor Relations] Act.” Columbia University, 364 NLRB No. 90 (Aug. 23, 2016).
NLRB Rules that Student Assistants Can Unionize; Debate May Now Shift to Whether They Should
In a sweeping decision issued on August 23, 2016, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its 2004 holding in Brown University1 that graduate students are not employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The Board ruled that graduate and undergraduate student assistants at Columbia University are employees who have the right to unionize, including those assistants engaged in research funded by external grants. The broadly worded decision has far-reaching ramifications for private sector universities because of its apparently intended wide-spread applicability.
NLRB Holds Student Assistants Who Have a Common-Law Employment Relationship With a Private University Are “Employees” Under The National Labor Relations Act
Executive Summary: In an August 23, 2016, decision, Trustees of Columbia University, 364 NLRB No. 90 (2016), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled existing precedent and held that student assistants, who have a common-law employment relationship with a private university, are statutory employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and are entitled to its protections.
Labor Board Will Decide Organizing Rights of Non-Teaching Employees at Religious Colleges, Universities
The National Labor Relations Board is set to decide if the same test used to determine whether teaching employees of a religious school are subject to the Board’s jurisdiction should be extended to non-teaching employees. Islamic Saudi Academy, Case 05-RC-080474 (May 12, 2016).
NLRB to Decide Organizing Rights of Non-Teaching Employees at Religious Colleges, Universities
The National Labor Relations Board is set to decide if the same test used to determine whether teaching employees of a religious school are subject to the Board’s jurisdiction should be extended to non-teaching employees. Islamic Saudi Academy, Case 05-RC-080474 (May 12, 2016).
NLRB General Counsel Proposes Severely Limiting Employers’ Right To Lawfully Withdraw Recognition from Unions
National Labor Relation Board General Counsel Richard F. Griffin has issued a Memorandum to NLRB Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge, and Resident Officers proposing a dramatic change in Board law on whether, and under what circumstances, an employer may unilaterally withdraw recognition from a union representing its employees. Memorandum GC 16-03 (May 9, 2016).
Congress Seeks to Block ‘Persuader’ Rule
Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 87) expressing congressional disapproval and seeking to block implementation of the United States Department of Labor’s controversial Final Rule relating to “persuader” activity under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The Rule is set to become effective on April 25, 2016.
New Rule Requiring Disclosure of Attorneys/Consultants Hired to Aid in Responding to Union Activity
Yesterday, the Department of Labor’s controversial "Persuader Rule" was published in the Federal Register and will require employers, beginning July 1, 2016, to make disclosures to the DOL regarding consultants and attorneys they hire to assist them in persuading employees regarding representational (union organizing) and collective bargaining matters. Previously, such disclosures were required only if the consultant had direct contact with the employees, but not if the consultant merely gave advice and assistance to the employer on how to communicate with employees.
NLRB Says “Road Supervisors” Entitled to Organize
The NLRB continues to scrutinize closely cases presenting issues of supervisory status. In Veolia Transportation Services, Inc., 363 NLRB No. 98 (slip op. January 20, 2016), an NLRB panel voted 2 to 1 to overturn a Regional Director’s decision that a transportation company’s road supervisors possessed the authority to discipline and reward employees and therefore were supervisors within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the NLRA.
Labor Board Sets 24-Hour Ban on Meetings about Unions Prior to Mail Ballot Elections
The National Labor Relations Board has significantly changed its rule governing when “mass campaign meetings” with employees by the parties (employer or union) to an NLRB-conducted mail-ballot election may be held.
NLRB Regional Director Rejects Election Petition of Faculty at Religiously-Affiliated College
Colleges and universities contending that their tenured and tenure-track faculty are managerial employees who do not have the right to unionize or bargain collectively under the National Labor Relations Act should find reassurance in a recent National Labor Relations Board Regional Director’s decision declining to assert jurisdiction over a Catholic liberal arts college. Carroll College, Case 19-RC-165133 (Jan. 19, 2016).
Employer “Captive Audience” Communications Rule Under Attack
A group of 106 university and law school professors of labor law and employment relations has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to issue a rule amending its long-held position regarding “captive audience” meetings held by employers in connection with NLRB-conducted union elections. The petition, filed on January 15, 2016, requires “equal time” for unions, if requested; if the union is not given equal time, an employer’s election victory will be overturned and a new election conducted.