Canadian card check scholarship

We have followed other comments on the effect of card check legislation in Canada and its relevance to analysis of the issue in the United States. Previous posts are here and here. Now there is something with a lot of substance to review. More after the jump.

Healthcare reform

This blogger has resisted posting about healthcare reform because there is ample information about every facet of legislation that essentially remains a work in progress. Once there is a final result, bill passes or bill is defeated, we will have plenty of opportunity to comment on the effect of the final result upon employers and their employees. For now we will note that labor supports the House version of the bill. As for the Senate bill, Labor will lobby to increase employer mandates, eliminate the excise tax on Cadillac plans and include a strong public option.

Unemployment by state

Charles Franklin at Pollster.com has posted a state by state analysis of unemployment which depicts state and national unemployment since 2001.

McDonald's liable for prank call

In a Kentucky McDonald's in 2004, a prank caller convinced an assistant manager to interrogate an 18 year old employee. The caller, claiming to be a police officer investigating a theft, convinced the assistant manager to take the employee's clothes and hold her in an office for several hours. A video of the ordeal which includes an interview with the victim and the assistant manager as well as graphic surveillance video of the incident is posted on You Tube. On Friday an appellate court upheld a jury verdict awarding $6.1 million in punitive and compensatory damages to the employee. The opinion is here. This case turns on state law issues, including workers compensation exclusive remedy and employer liability for third party criminal acts. But the killer fact was a hoax caller had duped McDonald's more than thirty times between 1994 and 2004. The court noted that McDonald's had not taken steps to warn or train its managers about the calls.

Unionize your sleep

As we enter the holiday season, the friendly folks at UNITE HERE have produced a web site that allows you to search for lodging where the employees are represented by UNITE HERE. A few searches revealed no facilities in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi or Tennessee. Louisiana has one facility in New Orleans.

OSHA and crowd control for retailers

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued a fact sheet for retailers expecting large crowds of holiday shoppers. Last year a security guard died after he was trampled by shoppers. The fact sheet is available at the OSHA.gov site. Sometimes the link to the fact sheet produces gibberish. Those who read OSHA regs will appreciate the irony.

An EFCA game

While the substantive provisions of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act are anything but a game, there is an interesting online game, Card Checked. It has a mid-1990's look and feel, but also some good points about how workers can be pressured into signing cards.

Resignation appropriate

The SEIU local president who threatened legal action over a municipality permitting an eagle scout to clear a walking trail rather than hiring the city's union workers, has resigned his union position.

Chamber cites bias in labor literature

The U. S. Chamber of Commerce has released a White Paper report which skewers the research methods and conclusions of Kate Bronfenbrenner and others claiming employer misconduct in representation proceedings suppresses unionization. The study criticizes Bronfenbrenner's reliance upon chief union organizers for assessing the campaign environment while ignoring employer advocates. The study does a particularly good job of using current NLRB data to correct the misstatements and conclusions of the pro-labor writings of Bronfenbrenner and others.

ACORN dumps

Fox reports ACORN dumped sensitive documents shortly after California AG Jerry Brown announced an investigation of ACORN's activities. The private investigator who uncovered the wrongdoing claims the 20,000 documents he found show illicit activity between ACORN an bank and a union. No details were provided. It is clear, however, that much sensitive personal information was in the documents - an identity theft treasure trove.

Fifth Circuit affirms SJ in same sex harassment case

Ho hum, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgement in a same sex harassment case. In Love v. Motiva Enterprises L.L.C. a divided court found Ms. Love (really, thats the plaintiff's name) failed to establish, with credible evidence, that the harasser was homosexual, an element of a same sex harassment claim in the Fifth Circuit. Much more after the jump.

Teachers' union "insanity"

As an ad hoc faculty I am sensitive to education/employment issues, but my unpaid teaching job does not blind me to the idiocy of teacher unions. Seems the teachers who teach advanced placement courses in Boston were eligible for performance based bonuses based upon the number of students who passed the AP tests. The schools which used the bonus system saw a 39% increase in passage. But the Teachers' union complained, not about the bonus, rather that the recipients were the teachers teaching the AP courses. The union wanted all teachers to share in the bonus irrespective of their efforts at teaching the AP students.

Mississippi shipyard contract extended

Northrop Grumman's Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard reached agreement on a two year contract extension with various labor organizations representing employees. The current agreement, reached after a month long strike in 2007 was set to expire in March 2010. Key benefits are wage increases each year and a $1,000 ratification bonus. Employee contributions for monthly health insurance premiums will not rise over the course of the extension.

EEOC charge filings up in FY 2009

The EEOC has released its 2009 Performance and Accountability Report which indicates an increased volume of charge filing over the last year.

Hostile environment claim fails

Calling an African-American employee "boy" even on multiple occasions, is not sufficient evidence to withstand summary judgment according to the Eleventh Circuit. Hat tip to the Workplace Prof Blog. More after the jump

Google for legal research

For several years I've done basic labor and employment law research on Google. Its not for everything, its not where you can Shepardize (need Lexis for that) and necessarily search for the latest decision, but when you want to grab a case or generally search a topic, it's been pretty good. Its also easy to use and the searches seem to return more of what I want than the premier research sites. Good just got better this week. Google now provides federal and state caselaw and access to legal articles through Google Scholar, and, uh, its free.

Former organizer decries Unite Here's tactics

The New York Times has an interesting article on the complaints of union organizers about the manipulative practices used by the union including abusing the privacy of the organizers.

Labor Law scholarship

Volume 70, Issue 1 of the Louisiana Law Review (LSU) has 3 important labor law articles. The first by William Gould, "New Labor Law Reform Variations on an Old Theme: Is the Employee Free Choice Act the Answer?" The second, by Catherine Fisk "First Contract Arbitration and the Employee Free Choice Act" and the third, by Henry Drummonds "Reforming Labor Law by Reforming Labor Law Preemption Doctrine to Allow the State to Make More Labor Relations Policy."

SEIU/NUHW continue the fight

San Francisco alternative news source BeyondChron has a couple of interesting articles on the SEIW/NUHW dispute. The first details the support NUHW has received from Bay area progressives and labor leaders as well as the increasing isolation of the SEIU. The second, posted Nov. 18, details SEIU's egg throwing at NUHW supporters. A separate post from the Business and Media Institute details SEIU's misadventures well covered in the blogosphere, but ignored by ABC, NBC, CBS. The post ignores Fox.

EFCA 2010 or bust?

A recent post at The Hill quotes the SEIU's Andy Stern as challenging the 60 Democrats to work as a party of one and Pass EFCA in 2010. The real news is Stern isn't betting on that happening.

Teamsters diversify

First it was truckers, then librarians, then zookeepers and now film and TV composers - - all Teamsters.

Impasse on tap

Tonight's labor law class will discuss the concept of impasse as it relates to the duty to bargain under the National Labor Relations Act. What better example of the hazards of unilateral action than the case of the Michigan beer distributers who one after another bargained with a Teamsters Union local, each one declared an impasse was reached and unilaterally imposed a new contract with what the NLRB described as "substantially lower income and reduced benefits for employees, particularly the drivers." Ultimately the distributors were found to have bargained in bad faith and were tagged with a $41 million dollar back pay award.

Independent contractor status determined by economic reality

A recent Fifth Circuit opinion reverses summary judgement in favor of the employer against the claims of cable splicers who asserted they were not paid overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA]. The district court granted summary judgement after finding the cable splicers to be independent contractors, not employees. The per curium opinion concluded that cable splicers who worked on a steady and reliable basis over a substantial period of time exclusively with the defendant were sufficiently economically dependant upon the alleged employer to be employees, not independent contractors.

EEO poster deadline Nov. 21

The EEOC has posted online a revised EEO poster, and a supplemental poster to address GINA. Employers should post updated posters by November 21. The EEOC web site allows employers to download a full new poster, or just a supplemental poster if they already have a poster. Also an employer may order up to ten posters for mail delivery. Many employers pay commercial services for these items. The EEOC provides them for free.

S.J. on assault claim

DePree v. Saunders is an academic dispute case concerning a faculty member at the University of Southern Mississippi. Its a fairly unremarkable due process, first amendment, qualified immunity case. But scroll to the end for the not so mundane discussion about assault. More after the jump.

GINA effective date November 21

In May of last year, President Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act also referred to as GINA, a new Federal law that prohibits discrimination in health coverage and employment based on genetic information. The provisions affecting employers take effect November 21. The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a fact sheet describing the Act's coverage. more after the jump.

More on ACORN's suit against the United States

One of the attorneys involved is Bill Quigley, who is Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Their press release post is here. Among the Constitutional issues is the claim that singling out ACORN for defunding constitutes a Bill of Attainder.

EFCA planning

I'm thinking that when the NLRB gains its three new members it may focus early on accessibility issues for labor even before whatever passes for EFCA is passed. We've discussed Chairman Liebman's dissent in Register Guard previously. In addition to e-mail policies we also think employers should be proactive in anticipating challenges to no access, no solicitation and no distribution issues. Crucial to the analysis will be the ability to predict outcomes. Crucial becomes critical when the organizing begins.

ACORN v. United States

ACORN has sued the federal government. It claims Congress' decision to cut off funds to the group is unconstitutional because its a punitive measure targeted against a single entity. The suit also paints a bleak picture of layoffs, program discontinuations and office closures. An abbreviated version of the Times-Picayune dead tree edition article can be found here.

EFCA follows healthcare

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka admits to the Wall Street Journal healthcare legislation is a higher priority for labor than EFCA.

Union statistical data

A treasure trove of statistical data about union density on a national and metropolitan area basis can be found at http://www.unionstats.com/. For example, in 2008, 4.4% of workers in the New Orleans Metropolitan area were members of a union, and 6.3% were covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In the private sector alone the figures are 2.1% members and 2.8% are covered. Public sector membership was 19.6% and covered by CBA stood at 29.6%.

UFCW threatened strike

The Arizona Republic does a good job of discussing the potential UFCW strike against Frye's and Safeway. The piece also discusses the effects of the 2003-2004 strike against the same companies lasting 20 weeks and which involved 70,000 workers. It cost the companies an estimaterd $2 billion.

Union demographics

The Center for Economic Policy Research has released a new study on the changing face of unions.

• In 1983, women constituted 35% of unionized workers, today its 45% and women will be in the majority before 2020.
• only 1 in 10 unionized workers works in manufacturing
• almost 50% of unionized workers works in the public sector
• In 1983, 20% of unionized workers had a college degree, now its 37.5%

Man bites dog

IBM has introduced another innovative healthcare approach. Beginning in 2010, the company will pay 100% of its employes primary care costs. Previously the company had introduced a wellness program, with incentives. IBM estimates its $79 million expenditure for that program saved the company and the employees a combined $191 million in healthcare costs. When you have 115,000 employees in the United States you have a pretty good statistical sample for savings. It is unclear whether this approach would affect savings for small employers.

Workplace distribution of swine flu vaccine defended

In an effort to tamp down criticism of swine flu vaccine being provided to certain businesses, including Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, a Centers for Disease Control official defends the practice of shipping small lots to workplaces as an efficient method of reaching high risk individuals. Employers who engage in the distribution should do so on a voluntary basis and pursuant to written informed consent. Better yet, contract with a third party healthcare provider to provide the service. Employers should be cognizant of discrimination issues previously posted here, and healthcare providers should check this out.

South Carolina 787 Washington 0

We've seen a lot of unspecific discussions about the Boeing/IAM negotiations central to the company's decision to locate its second 787 assembly line in South Carolina rather than in Washington state, but this latest article details how far apart the Machinists union and management were in contract negotiations.

Resigned?

The Teamsters claim a recently resigned International Vice President, who earned $288,000 a year from his work with the union, was not "forced out." There were, however, allegations he sexually harassed a union secretary.

AG seizes ACORN computers

The Times Picayune reports agents from the Louisiana Attorney General's office executed a search warrant and seized a hundred or so computers from ACORN's New Orleans offices. The AG's ongoing investigation into financial irregularities stems in part from suspicion that the acknowledged embezzlement scandal involving Dale Rathke may involve a lot more missing money than acknowledged by the organization. Prior subpoenas for information also indicate the AG is investigating non-payment of withholding taxes, obstruction of justice and ERISA violations.

Jobless rate hits 10.2%

The nation's rate of unemployment soared to 10.2% in October. This is the highest rate since April of 1983. Its the 22nd month of job losses, the longest streak since record-keeping began in 1939. The Bureau of Labor Statistics press release is here.

NLRB election video

The NLRB has posted a video (in English and Spanish) which details the NLRB representation election process. It  presents a detailed step by step account of the process. It is a thorough, objective primer on the details of the way things are supposed to be. While it provides an objective overview, it does little to prepare a viewer for the reality of a contested election.  Nevertheless it is a good overview for anyone needing to understand how the NLRB addresses the election process. I intend to use it in my labor law course, and it will be 20 minutes well spent.

EFCA and Canada

This Forbes.com piece does a good job of pointing out the differences between Canadian labor laws and ours. Canada's federal labor law applies to federal employees and certain national industries (i.e. banking) - about 10% of the workforce. Canada leaves the regulation of the other 90% to her provincial governments. In 1975, all of them used something like the original EFCA's card check provisions, but today 6 of the Canada's 10 provinces provide for secret ballot elections. We have previously written about Canadian labor law here and here.

South Carolina 787 Washington 0, part 2

The State.com has a good background piece on the South Carolina wooing of Boeing, including involvement of Senator Lindsey Graham.

Philly transit workers strike

A strike by transit workers in Philadelphia takes a toll on low wage workers and others who  commute to work on SEPTA.

SEIU as bad guy - again

Update 11/3/09: Earth Times reporsts the NLRB has set a December 17th election for workers at Memorial Hospital. The latest article details the 6 year effort, and SEIU's tactics to prevent an election on a petition filed by a rival union. Monsignor Brenkle previously posted an opinion piece about workers in a Santa Rosa, CA, Catholic hospital being denied the opportunity to vote on whether they wish to unionize. The obstacle isn't management now, its the Service Employees International Union. More after the jump

Labor's problem

Does anyone care about labor anymore? This tampabay.com article does a good job of stating the problems labor has.

Raytheon machinists ratify contract

IAM members overwhelmingly approve a new 3 year contract with Raytheon Missile Systems, thereby avoiding a repeat of the 10 week strike which spanned late 2006 into 2007.   Wage increases are set at 2.75%, 2.75% and 2.5%. Health insurance premium increases were capped at 22.5% for the first year, and 25% in each of the final 2 years.

Two Member Board decision gets SCOTUS review

The Supreme Court today granted certiorari in 08-1457 New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB. It is the Seventh Circuit case upholding the NLRB's authority to issue  2 member Board decisions. The NLRB had petitioned for certiorari in Laurel Baye, where the D.C. Circuit had denied enforcement of a 2 member decision holding a two-member panel did not constitute a quorum as required by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), previous post here.

SEIU Local 100 is no more

Updated 9:10 a.m. In the wake of the SEIU revoking the charter of Local 100, the local's blog notes it is reverting to United Labor Unions, Local 100, which was its original name when founded in 1980. Although promising a new blog, the old posting still sports the SEIU affiliation. Well, well, the old site is taken down. I wonder if that had anything to do with the posting of the message? Updated 7:40 a.m. The old site is back up.