On September 6, 2023, Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox was appointed to the NLRB by former President Joe Biden. Her five-year term was scheduled to end in 2028. However, on January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump made an unprecedented move by firing Wilcox, the former chair and first Black woman to serve on the Board.… Continue Reading
One week after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has taken additional moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape the NLRB
As we expected, and reported here, President Trump has moved quickly to re-make the NLRB. Almost immediately after taking office, the President named Republican board member Marvin Kaplan as Chair of the NLRB. … Continue Reading
On December 12, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule updating its personal protective equipment (PPE) standard for construction workers. The new rule explicitly requires that such equipment fit each employee properly. The rule is scheduled to become effective on January 13, 2025. When it does, it will result in OSHA’s construction industry standard mirroring the standards that already apply to general industry and other specific types of work.… Continue Reading
On Tuesday, December 10, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision that will make it more difficult for a unionized employer to make unilateral changes to working conditions. The decision, Endurance Environmental, found here, overturns a Trump-era rule established in 2019 and returns to the “clear and unmistakable” waiver standard which had been in place for decades.… Continue Reading
Reversing decades of precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) issued two recent decisions that will significantly restrict the right of employers to provide information to their employees about the impact of unionization. Both cases were decided by a 3-1 majority of the Board’s Democratic members, in what appears to be an eleventh-hour push to change well-settled law in advance of the Trump administration taking the reins next year.… Continue Reading
In a 3-1 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) ended the agency’s practice of approving “consent orders,” which permitted an administrative law judge to resolve an unfair labor practice case before adjudication based on terms offered solely by the respondent. The Board’s decision will make it more difficult for employers to settle cases at the NLRB unless they are willing to accept the full remedy sought by the general counsel. … Continue Reading
In its continuing repudiation of policies developed under the Trump Administration, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) has published its Fair Choice-Employee Voice Final Rule.
In April of 2020, the Board published a final rule addressing various union representation issues: (1) union elections while unfair labor practice (“ULP”) charges are pending, (2) voluntary recognition procedures, and (3) Section 9(a) recognition in the construction industry.… Continue Reading
A unanimous decision from the United States Supreme Court, issued on June 13, 2024, settles the split among the circuit courts concerning the factors to be considered by a court in considering a request by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) to obtain an injunction under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) against an employer during the pendency of NLRB administrative proceedings and raises the bar that must be satisfied by the NLRB for such injunctive relief
The decision in in Starbucks Corp.… Continue Reading
On March 8, 2024, a Texas federal district court vacated the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “the Board”) 2023 joint employer rule (“2023 Rule), and restored the 2020 joint employer rule (“2020 Rule”).
As we previously reported, the NLRB proposed the 2023 Rule for determining joint employer status under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).… Continue Reading
On Monday, February 5, a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a ruling that Dartmouth College basketball players are employees of the school, allowing them to vote on unionizing. The NLRB’s Boston Regional Director, Laura Sacks, issued her opinion after all 15 members of the Dartmouth men’s basketball team signed a petition on September 13, 2023 to be represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 560, a union which already represents some of the school’s employees.… Continue Reading