Unionized plant closing

Unionized clothing manufacturer Hugo Boss is closing its Cleveland, Ohio plant. The move will put 300+ Workers United/SEIU workers on the street.

Union free ramp up

Bloomberg has a good piece on corporate ramp up in advance of expected legislation to provide an easier path for organizing workers. As noted before, card check is dead, but quickie elections are a likely result of early action in 2010. Its a political necessity for Democrats to energize their labor base.

Labor in Crisis: A retrospective by labor consultant

Year end is always a slow news time. Many bloggers do year end reviews and top ten lists. Basically they help fill a void, and perhaps refresh those with short term memory issues. But Paul Garver's piece at Talking Union is a sober assessment of labor at the end of 2009.

"The penalties are so miniscule . . ."

From the AFL-CIO blog (with video) a GRIT TV segment on union busting. Hint: they blame the consultants for scaring workers away from unionization. Basically Labor continues to engage in the delusion that all workers would join unions "but for" their employer's opposition. But at the end of the video, the point well made is the penalties for serious violations are an insufficient deterrent to employer misconduct. Assuming this aspect of the NLRA is broken,  and there is a lot of agreement among labor relations professionals on both sides on this point, it does not follow that the election process is broken.  With EFCA, unions want employees to choose unionization without providing time for any presentation of the case for remaining union free. That's what is really at stake with both card check and quickie election proposals.

Becker NLRB nomination rejected

The Democratic controlled Senate has rejected the nomination to the NLRB of controversial SEIU attorney Craig Becker. The procedural move means the President must resubmit his nomination before the Senate will consider it in a subsequent session.

Bronfenbrenner opines

Kate Bronfenbrenner serves as director of labor education research at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. In that position she advocates for significant changes in the federal labor laws. She reports rampant violations of worker's rights occur during organizing drives.  According to her sources, who often are the very union organizers who experience failure in trying to get workers to select union representation, worker intimidatiion is the cause of labor's membership decline. This, of course is an overly narrow and self-serving explanation. Her new opinion piece in the Providence Journal is typical.

Anti-EFCA study challenged

Liberal organization the Institute for Southern Studies rates Layne-Farrar's EFCA impact study seriously flawed. This is not the first criticism of the Layne-Farrar report. The latest edition of Just Labour, a research publication sponsored by Canada's York University's Center for Research on Work and Society, is devoted to the Canadian experience with both card check recognition and mandatory elections to determine representation. There is a lot to digest here, and it has a decidedly pro-labor tilt, but brings to the debate substantial comparative data that challenges assumptions previously made by EFCA opponents.

Oregon captive audience law challenged

U.S. Chamber sues to block enforcement of Oregon law preventing employers from having captive audience meetings with employees during union organizing drives. This prediction is easy. I see no way state regulation of the NLRB campaign process survives a preemption challenge.

Military contractors cannot force employees to arbitrate claims

Over the weekend President Obama signed into law a provision of the defense spending bill which prohibits military contractors from enforcing arbitration clauses in employment contracts. In significant part the amendment is in reaction to a situation so bad even the Fifth Circuit refused to compel arbitration of all claims.

COBRA subsidy extended

Congress has passed an extension to the COBRA benefits subsidy from nine to 15 months. It also extended the termination date eligibility requirement to February 28, 2010. President Obama is expected to sign the extension.

State unemployment systems broke

The Washington Post reports unemployment compensation systems in 24 states are broke and that within 2 years it projects the systems in 40 states will be.

NUHW wins Santa Rosa election

In a tight vote, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital healthcare workers have apparently chosen the National Union of Health Workers (NUHW) as their representative for collective bargaining. The vote was NUHW 283, 263 for No Union, 13 for SEIU. There were 17 challenged ballots. The linked article provides significant detail about the contentious fight between SEIU and NUHW, as well as the roller coaster election tallying of ballots. We have previously blogged about this here and here. The SEIU is being accused of stonewalling the certification by not cooperating in the resolution of the 17 challenged ballots. If the challenges are not resolved there will be a runoff election without SEIU on the ballot, In a close election the outcome of a runoff is not guaranteed.

IAM seeks to enjoin Pratt closures

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a friend of court brief in supporting a Machinists' union effort to enjoin Pratt and Whitney from moving Connecticut operations to Georgia and Asia. In a Section 301 action, the union claims the company's promise to make a serious effort to keep the work in Connecticut, a promise contained in the current labor agreement, was violated. Moreover, the union contends, the Company never intended to keep the promise. The union's breach of contract action seeks to delay the plant closures for the remainder of the existing contract, at which point they hope to be in a position to bargain for a deal to prevent closure. Trial begins today.

NFL threatens fine NFLPA promises to pay fine

Mike Florio at NBC's Pro Football talk notes Chad Ochocinco wants to wear fallen teammate Chris Henry's jersey in the Bengal's game against San Diego. He's done it in practice. The NFL likely will fine him if he does. The players union has now said it will "cover" any fine. Florio correctly assesses that this is about the union attempting to score some P.R. points. One has to wonder how union funds can be remitted to cover an individual players fine without creating problem. The collective bargaining agreement specifies fines are to be collected from the player's salaries, and one would assume the Bengals and the league could figure out how to extract payment of the fine from Ochocinco. That would leave the union the option of reimbursing Ochocinco, but does it have the authority to do that? I'm pretty sure that's going to be governed by the union's internal documents and policies.

Downtime

Have  little more time to work on the blog than over the past week. New Orleans has broken historical monthly rainfall levels for December already. We had water in the house from street flooding. So the blogging took a back seat to the shop vac and sump pump. I'm writing this Proctoring my labor law exam (its a killer). No one seems stressed. Thats a good thing I hope. I truly hope the students succeed.

2009 in review

COBRA subsidy, GINA and H1N1 are just a few of the HR concerns discussed in a review of the past year.

Pending legislation.

Two things to watch. The the defense appropriations bill that the Senate Committee on Appropriation passed includes Senator Franken's amendment to prevent forced arbitration of assault and rape claims. In its current form the bill applies to contractors who have contracts totaling $1 million or more. The bill also includes an extension of the COBRA subsidy.

Wisconsin adds labor history to curriculum

Updated: A new law bill on the governor's desk in Wisconsin requires the inclusion of the history of organized labor and the collective bargaining process in state social studies standards. If Governor Doyle signed signs the bill, December 10th.  and he is expected to do so, s Students are more likely to be taught history associated with the labor movement. Check out the Wisconsin Labor History web site here.

Fantasy football as termination offense

Well it had to happen at some point. Investment giant Fidelity has fired four fantasy football commissioners for gambling. Now that gambling assessment could be a stretch, but at will employment means good reason, bad reason or no reason at all is a lawful basis for termination. One of the unfortunate cuts claims his only workplace involvement in the league was receipt of an IM involving Trent Edwards and his less than stellar year. Mr. unemployed should have picked Drew.

China dominates

This Forbes.com article notes a recent Pew survey found 44% of Americans believe China is the world's foremost economic superpower. Furthermore it goes on to explain why they are correct. James Fallows at the Atlantic thinks they are crazy.

Web 2.0 and organizing

Teamsters online manager Richard Negri who attended the Organizing 2.0 conference in New York last week, has posted his comments on the event here. Best observation after the jump:

PLA's concern Construction Industry

City Business has an article on Project Labor Agreements and the concerns of local contractors about them.

Supreme Court will review employee privacy case

The federal Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of employee police officers and against their employer and a service provider who turned over employee's text messages to the employer who paid for the service. The United States Supreme Court granted review to the public employer after having previously denied the private Company's appeal.

ACORN wins preliminary injunction against U.S.

Well I'll be  . . . . ACORN's suit against the United States for cutting off its funding we blogged about here and here took a favorable turn for ACORN. A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the United States requiring continued funding of projects under existing contracts.

Union discipline

Bill Hogan, once a powerful union leader, had a falling out with Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa and was expelled from the union. Details here, here, here and here. Under union rules Teamsters are barred from speaking with the expelled member. Seems the union got an injunction enforcing the private discipline and now Hogan faces contempt of court for speaking with Teamsters including his son and best friend. Union discipline is a private contractural matter. The union's constitution and by-laws establish the rules. When a member violates the rules, the organization may discipline the violator in private proceedings which do not provide due process or right to legal assistance. Members can be expelled or fined for offenses like conduct detrimental to the union. The union then can go to court to enforce the discipline.

Geography of a recesssion

Very interesting visual of job loss across the country. Couple of surprises here. Note the high unemployment in Mississippi in January 2007. Also note that south Louisiana has fared pretty well when compared to the rest of the country.

Retire and keep your truck

The forced departure of UFCW's Local 7 long time leader, Ernie Duran, comes with a retirement gift. Mr. Duran gets to keep his union owned vehicle, a Ford F-350 truck. Three former Local 7 presidents denied getting a vehicle on retirement.

Labor opposes Cadillac tax

Unions are upping their pressure on Congress to eliminate the 40% tax on "Cadillac" health plans. Cadillac plans are currently defined as those with annual premiums over $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 annually for families.

Manager must know company policy

The manager of the Florida McDonald's who told a transgendered applicant, employment would not be offered to "faggots," has been fired. The manager actually called the applicant and left a "hateful voicemail." The adverse action against the manager was based upon the employer's non-discrimination policy which was interpreted to include discrimination against LGBT. The State of Florida does not have a law protecting LGBT. This case underscores the importance of thinking before leaving a voicemail, as well as the fact employers can use a lot of reasons broader than the law to justify termination of an employee.

Not everyone hates ACORN

The anti-ACORN media churn continues with pols, pundits and teleprompt readers continuing their bash. However, man bites dog every now and then.

EFCA backdoor?

The Republican members of the House Committee on Labor and Education issued a press release warning of an EFCA backdoor ploy. Essentially the release highlights and links to Philip Klein's American Spectator piece about government by regulation. Elections have consequences.

Union reform?

Here's an interesting piece on union reform, and its limitations.

ACORN vindicated?

A former Massachusetts attorney general has issued a report on his internal investigation of ACORN. ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis characterized the report as "part vindication, part constructive criticism and complete roadmap for the future." We doubt the results of a self-audit will stop bloggers, pundits or Republicans from continuing to pile on criticism of the organization.

South Carolina 787 Washington 0, round 3

Boeing has announced it plans on duplicating all parts manufacturing near its new South Carolina 787 final assembly facility. Nothing will be uniquely manufactured in the Puget sound area. This will allow the South Carolina facility to operate completely independent of the Washington facilities and their strike prone Machinists union.

Third quarter productivity grows at 8.1%

Update: The Bureau of Labor Statistics released revised third quarter statistics last week. Getting a lot of press was the eye-popping October 10.2% unemployment rate which declined to 10.0% for November. But the real eye-popper is the fact that Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at an 8.1%  increased at a 9.5 percent annual rate. You have to go all the way back to the third quarter of 2003 to find a better rate of growth (9.7%). I'm no economist, but productivity normally does not increase during a recession. Employers tend to be slow to "downsize" their most valuable employees rendering certain built in inefficiencies of production. But not this time. Over the last year, output increased 4% while hours worked decreased 5% and unit labor costs declined 3.6%. Historical data provided here, and third quarter details and charts here.

Survey says . . . .

A recent survey indicates 63% of the employers surveyed would reduce healthcare benefits below "Cadillac" levels in order to avoid taxation.

Unemployment drops to 10%

On a somewhat surprising note the Department of Labor released November unemployment statistics which showed the unemployment rate dropping to 10% from October's 10.2%.

DoL has helpful law summary

The Department of Labor has a a new web site and one helpful resource is an overview of the laws and Executive orders affecting employers which it administers.

SEIU: "EFCA = jobs"

The SEIU's Anna Burger participated in the White House jobs summit. Burger presented a nine point plan for jobs creation. Point Number eight is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act [EFCA].

Could Dana Corp be the EFCA compromise?

One of the things the NLRB does well is compile and release statistics on case handling. Sure its self-serving in part, but it does provide raw data. In the latest report there is a real nugget. More after the jump.

SEIU urges employees to "Vote No Union"

After abandoning its efforts to organize employees at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the SEIU has joined with management urging workers to vote against the unionization effort by NUHW. We've blogged on this situation before.

Union threatens Christmas tree lighting

Will tonight's broadcast of the Rockefeller Center tree lighting happen? The union says maybe not and blames NBC.

Shipyard workers ratify contract extension

In a low turn out election, employees at Pascagoula's Northrop Grumman shipyard ratified the contract extension previously discussed in this post. Hat tip to Kathy Burns at USMI.

Time to move on

Here's an example of an anti-EFCA piece beating the dead horse of no secret ballot elections. Assuming the 16% support for card check is an accurate figure as it appears to be, its time to move on to the objectionable aspects of compromise legislation, like quickie elections and binding arbitration of first contracts. At this point all a message like this does is make it appear the sole evil is the absence of a secret ballot election.

WFI on EFCA

Glenn Spencer, the E.D. of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Workforce Freedom Initiative has penned an EFCA update. He does a nice job of summarizing the last year's efforts and the likely future, and uncertain, legislative path labor law reform may take. He aslo notes Labor's "Plan "B" is to look to the NLRB, including nominee Craig Becker, to initiate union friendly procedural changes to the process of selecting union representation.

After card check

The American Spectator has a general update piece on EFCA. Not much new here except the "Beyond EFCA" headline. Its prescient. Card check is doomed. Quickie elections is the new thing. Can the unions get "beyond" card check? If they don't, any legislation is doomed. As we've said before, employers also need to get past any attacks on the proposed legislation taking away secret ballot votes. It wont. All the fear-mongering about taking away secret ballot votes plays into the hands of compromise involving quick elections.

LA Third Circuit denies enforcement to over-broad no solicitation agreement

The Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently affirmed a trial court grant of summary judgment refusing to enforce a non-compete/customer solicitation agreement. The Court made it clear that the Third Circuit requires a geographic limitation on both the non-competition agreement as well as the no solicitation agreement. The Court found the agremement deficient "in two respects: it does not designate the parishes or municipalities in which Bledsoe is prohibited from soliciting customers, and it purports to prohibit him from soliciting potential customers." H. B. Rentals, LC, et al v. Maurice Bledsoe, Jr., CA 09-478 LA Ct App, 3rd Cir. 09-478 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/04/09); 2009 La. App. LEXIS 1865.