Labor

  • April 02, 2025

    Trump's Union Rebuke Tests Nat'l Security Exception's Scope

    President Donald Trump's proclamation that the government will stop dealing with unions at dozens of agencies put to the test a little-used statutory provision empowering the president to tear up union contracts in the interest of national security.

  • April 02, 2025

    Labor Solicitor Pick Wrote Conservative Wage Policy Blueprint

    President Donald Trump's choice to be the U.S. Department of Labor's top lawyer helped write Project 2025's book outlining policy suggestions for a future conservative administration, and that document provides a glimpse into how the nominee might approach wage and hour issues if confirmed.

  • April 02, 2025

    Hospital Fights DC Circ.'s Deference To NLRB Successor Bar

    A Puerto Rico hospital urged the D.C. Circuit to take a fresh look at the National Labor Relations Board's so-called successor bar doctrine, challenging the appeals court's prior deference to the board on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent the case back given its Loper Bright ruling.

  • April 02, 2025

    NLRB Official Says La. Charter School Is Political Subdivision

    The National Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction over a charter school in New Orleans where teachers and other staff unionized, a regional director concluded, finding the school is a political subdivision exempt from federal labor law.

  • April 01, 2025

    Trump Admin Layoffs 'Probably Broke Laws,' Judge Says

    A Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration "probably broke the laws that regulate en masse terminations of government employees," ordering the federal government to reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly fired from their jobs in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

  • April 01, 2025

    4th Circ. Rejects Appeal From DOGE Of SSA Probe Order

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday nixed an appeal from the Trump administration of a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Government Efficiency's access to sensitive data in Social Security Administration systems, with a White House spokesperson saying the president will "continue to seek all legal remedies available."

  • April 01, 2025

    Trump Admin Fights Wash.'s Bid To Expand Layoff Injunction

    The Trump administration has urged a California federal judge to reject the state of Washington's request to expand an injunction blocking federal agencies from firing probationary employees, saying the bid to broaden the order to other agencies is unnecessary and based on unfounded speculation of harm. 

  • April 01, 2025

    Unions Re-Up Challenge To Trump's Resignation Offer

    Federal unions have renewed their challenge to the president's deferred resignation offer, expanding on their members' difficulties and the roadblocks they face to fighting the initiative through agency channels in an apparent effort to address flaws underlying their earlier Massachusetts federal court loss.

  • April 01, 2025

    Arbitrator Overstepped By Solving Uniform Row, Judge Says

    A court should have decided whether a dispute between a regional airline and a Teamsters local over the airline's uniform policy was arbitrable, an Indiana federal judge ruled, saying an arbitrator overstepped by finding the dispute fell within her jurisdiction.

  • April 01, 2025

    Fund Has Power To Oust Penske's Dallas Unit, Judge Says

    A Teamsters pension plan has the authority to expel a bargaining unit of Penske workers in Dallas in a withdrawal liability dispute, an Illinois federal judge concluded while siding with the truck leasing company to find that an arbitrator has to determine when the expulsion happened.

  • April 01, 2025

    Fired NLRB Member Urges Full DC Circ. To Avert 'Crisis'

    Fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox urged the full D.C. Circuit to rethink a panel ruling staying her reinstatement, saying Tuesday that en banc review is "urgently necessary" after a majority enabled governmentwide chaos by rewriting U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • April 01, 2025

    Starbucks Fights NLRB Ruling On Ex-CEO's Town Hall Remark

    A National Labor Relations Board decision from October finding that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz unlawfully threatened workers during an employee town hall threatens to trample on employers' free speech rights, the company told the Fifth Circuit as it seeks to reverse the decision.

  • April 01, 2025

    AFL-CIO Backs Oregon's Cannabis Labor Peace Law

    The AFL-CIO has jumped into a legal battle to defend against a constitutional challenge seeking to block implementation of a voter-approved Oregon state law that requires cannabis businesses to have labor peace agreements.

  • March 31, 2025

    SpaceX Says It's Too Soon To Transfer Battle With NLRB 

    SpaceX urged a Texas federal court to vacate a renewed order making California the location for the aerospace company's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board's structure, saying conditions the Fifth Circuit imposed for renewing a bid for a transfer after blocking it in August haven't been met.

  • March 31, 2025

    Trump Picks Boyden Gray Attorney For Top DOL Lawyer Role

    President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Jonathan Berry of Boyden Gray PLLC to be solicitor of labor, the U.S. Department of Labor's top lawyer.

  • March 31, 2025

    Federal Worker Union Challenges Trump Order Gutting CBAs

    The National Treasury Employees Union sued on Monday to block portions of President Donald Trump's recent executive order ending collective bargaining at a number of federal agencies where its members work, saying the directive amounts to unlawful "political retribution" for the union's legal advocacy against Trump's agenda.

  • March 31, 2025

    2 Takeaways After DC Circ. Freezes Rehiring Of Labor Officials

    A panel majority's opinion giving an early green light to President Donald Trump's firing of two labor agency panel members took a narrow view of the U.S. Supreme Court precedent restricting presidents' removal power that the full D.C. Circuit — which will soon weigh in — may not share. Here, Law360 looks at takeaways from Friday's ruling.

  • March 31, 2025

    Alcoa Retirees, Unions Win Block On Health Benefits Cutoff

    Aluminum producer Alcoa USA Corp. must provide lifetime healthcare benefits to a group of retirees who were represented by unions, an Indiana federal judge ruled, greenlighting an injunction that allows class members to retroactively seek payments for costs.

  • March 31, 2025

    Minimum Wage Orders Blocked For H-2A Farmworkers In Wash.

    The U.S. Department of Labor may not approve minimum wage job orders for migrant farmworkers in Washington state, a federal judge has ruled, saying seasonal farmworkers with H-2A visas must receive paychecks that don't depress agricultural wages in the area.

  • March 31, 2025

    NJ Panel Denies Double Pay For Union In COVID Case

    Members of the Jersey City Public Employees union are not entitled to double pay under the COVID-19 state of emergency declared by Gov. Phil Murphy on March 9, 2020, even though their contract calls for the increased compensation during such designations, a New Jersey appellate panel ruled Monday.

  • March 31, 2025

    Trump Chooses DOL Wage Chief

    President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Andrew Rogers, acting general counsel for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to run the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, a role that along with the labor secretary oversees wage rulemaking and enforcement.

  • March 31, 2025

    Ex-MSPB Member Asks Full DC Circ. To Hear Firing Case

    Former Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris asked the full D.C. Circuit on Monday to hear a case challenging President Donald Trump's decision to fire her and a National Labor Relations Board member, saying the court's "authoritative announcement" would calm uncertainty surrounding the status of independent agencies.

  • March 31, 2025

    NLRB Judge Says Heating Co. Illegally Refused To Sign CBA

    A Wyoming heating and cooling company violated federal labor law by refusing to sign a labor contract it agreed to with its workers' union, a National Labor Relations Board judge said, finding the company consented to the collective bargaining agreement in a way that triggered an obligation to sign.

  • March 31, 2025

    AT&T Unit Illegally Delayed Reply To Info Bid, NLRB Says

    AT&T California unlawfully delayed its response to an information request related to a grievance from a Communications Workers of America local, the National Labor Relations Board concluded, with the board's chairman saying he would be willing to review the agency's deferral policy for information requests.

  • March 28, 2025

    Plan Administrator Wins Electric Co.'s Union Healthcare Fight

    An electric company can't use the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to claw back contributions to a union healthcare plan that weren't put toward benefits, a New York federal judge said Friday, tossing the company's suit against the plan's administrator.

Expert Analysis

  • Water Cooler Talk: Immigration Insights From 'The Proposal'

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    Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs at Troutman Pepper chat with their colleague Robert Lee about how immigration challenges highlighted in the romantic comedy "The Proposal" — beyond a few farcical plot contrivances — relate to real-world visa processes and employer compliance.

  • Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

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    In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.

  • Preparing For The NLRB's New Union Recognition Final Rule

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    The National Labor Relations Board's impending new final rule on union recognition puts the employer at a particular disadvantage in a decertification election, and best practices include conducting workplace assessments to identify and proactively address employee issues, say Louis Cannon and Gerald Bradner at Baker Donelson.

  • The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Key Steps To Employer Petitions For Union Elections

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the National Labor Relations Board shifted the burden of requesting formal union elections onto employers in its Cemex decision last year — and raised the stakes for employer missteps during the process — companies should be prepared to correctly file representation management election petitions and respond to union demands for recognition, says Adam Keating at Duane Morris.

  • Focus On Political Stances May Weaken Labor Unions

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    Recent lawsujits and a bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives call attention to the practice of labor unions taking political stances with which their members disagree — an issue that may weaken unions, and that employers should stay abreast of, given its implications for labor organizing campaigns, workplace morale and collective bargaining, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NLRB Ruling Highlights Rare Union Deauthorization Process

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    A recent National Labor Relations Board decision about a guard company's union authorization revocation presents a ripe opportunity for employees to review the particulars of this uncommon process, and employer compliance is critical as well, say Megann McManus and Trecia Moore at Husch Blackwell.

  • Latest 'Nuclear Verdict' Underscores Jury-Trial Employer Risk

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    A Los Angeles Superior Court jury's recent $900 million verdict in a high-profile sexual assault and harassment case illustrates the increase in so-called nuclear verdicts in employment cases, and the need for employers to explore alternative methods of resolving disputes, say Anthony Oncidi and Morgan Peterson at Proskauer.

  • After Chevron: What Loper Bright Portends For The NLRB

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court has a long history of deferring to the National Labor Relations Board's readings of federal labor law, the court's Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision forces courts to take a harder look at the judgment of an agency — and the NLRB will not be immune from such greater scrutiny, says Irving Geslewitz at Much Shelist.

  • What's Next After NLRB Ruling On Overbroad Noncompetes

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    If the National Labor Relations Board's recent ruling on noncompete provisions and its extension of Section 7 rights to limit noncompetes is adopted, this interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act will have to survive scrutiny by the courts without the deference previously afforded under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent overturning of Chevron, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Justices' Starbucks Ruling May Limit NLRB Injunction Wins

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Starbucks v. McKinney, adopting a more stringent test for National Labor Relations Board Section 10(j) injunctions, may lessen the frequency with which employers must defend against injunctions alongside parallel unfair labor practice charges, say David Pryzbylski and Colleen Schade at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • A Way Forward For The US Steel-Nippon Deal And Union Jobs

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    Parties involved in Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel should trust the Pennsylvania federal court overseeing a key environmental settlement to supervise a way of including future union jobs and cleaner air for the city of Pittsburgh as part of a transparent business marriage, says retired judge Susan Braden.

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