NLRB

  • Secondary Targets Can Be Union's Primary Focus
    Robert M. Schwartz
    May 24 2012 - 12:19pm
    ** Print only

    It may come as a surprise to some unionists, but the National Labor Relations Act does not prohibit boycott campaigns against neutral or secondary companies. Although the Taft-Hartley amendments of 1947 are frequently described (even on some union websites) as a ban on “secondary boycotts,” this term does not appear in the law.

  • Everything You Were Afraid To Ask About Lockouts
    Robert M. Schwartz
    Apr 17 2012 - 2:11pm

    Lockouts seem to be everywhere. At Cooper Tire in Ohio, sugar beet plants in North Dakota, the New York City Opera, the National Football League, and Caterpillar’s locomotive plant in Ontario, management has used the tactic to try to force outrageous concessions.

  • When Your Boss Doesn’t ‘Like’ You: Surviving in Social Media
    Mischa Gaus
    Mar 8 2012 - 1:37pm

    Social media are presenting new challenges for unions as employers develop policies and discipline employees for online behavior. But whether workers are talking to each other in the lunch room or on Facebook, labor law still provides protections for private-sector workers.

  • ‘Union Stooges'? The NLRB Is No Panacea for Workers

    Three New Year appointments to the National Labor Relations Board assure that it will continue to operate. But while unions are celebrating the NLRB’s ability to keep the lights on, along with a handful of union-supportive decisions by the board, the hard fact is that even when the NLRB is operational, it doesn’t work for workers.

  • Striking Back against Picket Line Retaliation
    David Cohen
    Jan 13 2011 - 9:50am

    Verizon fired 40 union members in December for picket-line activity. Aren’t members protected in legally sanctioned strikes? Not always. But unions can prevent firings for strike conduct by mounting massive and disciplined activity that doesn’t allow the boss to target a few troublemakers.

  • Comcast Techs Fall Short after Six Weeks of Intimidation

    After a year of fruitless attempts to meet with management, frustrated Comcast technicians at the Fall River and Fairhaven garages in Massachusetts sought an NLRB supervised election six weeks ago.

    Votes were counted Wednesday and union supporters fell short. Labor law would have compelled management to finally begin the long-sought-after negotiations if techs won a majority vote.

  • NLRB Moving to Speed Union Elections
    Michael J. Goldberg
    Dec 6 2011 - 4:55pm

    The National Labor Relations Board is readying to adopt rules that accelerate union representation elections, but staunch opposition from employers and their political allies in Washington imperils the rule—and the agency itself.

  • NLRB May Lose Quorum in 2012, Suspending Progress
    Nick Johnson
    Oct 17 2011 - 12:08pm

    The Labor Board, under attack since it investigated Boeing for retaliating against union workers, could be soon crippled. That would shut one of the last avenues for expanding workers’ legal rights.

  • Action on the Job: Tips and Traps
    David Cohen, Judy Atkins
    Nov 16 2011 - 4:40pm

    Workers have the right to organize and take action on the job, even with a contract and grievance procedure in place. But stewards need to know how to bend the rules without getting people in trouble.

  • Labor Board Could Lift ‘Destructive’ Lockout of New York Housing Workers

    After nearly a year locked out of their jobs, porters and maintenance workers at a massive New York housing complex see a ray of hope. A Labor Board complaint described the lockout as “inherently destructive” of workers’ rights, making the 70 Service Employees members optimistic they will prevail.