Where do our rights to free speech start and end? Specifically, where does free speech at work start and end? If one particular bill was to become law in Connecticut, the answer to that question would become much more difficult. There is a bill before the General Assembly that would restrict employers’ speech rights. It…
BREAKING NEWS: The Senate has approved two nominations this week that will make a large impact on Labor. Patrick Pizzella was confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Labor on April 12, 2018. US Senator Lamar Alexander released the following statement regarding his confirmation: “As we learned at his confirmation hearing last July—Patrick Pizzella is well-qualified to…
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2018 — Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement after the committee approved four nominees with “impressive qualifications.” Alexander on John Ring, nominated to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board: “Mr. Ring has varied experiences that will be a strength…
A recent letter from the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions to the Department of Labor has called for the Department to close loopholes that allow Work Centers to operate like unions, but without any of the federal oversight laws that apply to the unions, like financial transparency and prohibition from intimidation practices. In…
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted 3-0 to vacate their decision in Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, Ltd. and Brandt Construction Co., 365 NLRB No. 156 (2017) on the basis that the Board’s Designated Agency Ethics Official determined Emanuel should have been disqualified from participating in the Hy-Brand proceeding. Emanuel did not participate in the vote. As a result of…
Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo recently got into an argument with Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, over President Trump’s tax cuts and policies for workers. Jennings claimed the President is “stacking the odds against working people coming together and getting a collective voice” while Bartiromo accused Jennings of “demonizing American workers who…
Union membership has remained stagnant in 2017, according to a January 19 report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Unions remained at 10.7%, adding only 262,000 members over 2016. In contrast, union participation rates were 20.1% in 1983, when union data was first compiled. Data was collected from a Current Population Survey of…
Labor Secretary Acosta’s cautious approach to dismantling Obama-era policies has led to rumors that he is using the position to bide his time while he waits for a judgeship nomination, possibly eyeing an appellate bench as a pathway to the Supreme Court. Rumors of his judgeship aspirations are not new, following along with him through…
President Trump has named Marvin E. Kaplan as Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), replacing Chairman Philip A. Miscimarra, whose term expired on December 16, 2017. Kaplan was sworn in as a Board Member in August 2017, for a term ending in August 2020. Prior to his NLRB appointment, Chairman Kaplan had a prestigious career,…
The National Labor Relations Board has voted to overrule Browning-Ferris guidelines for joint-employer liability established in 2015. Going forward, under the standards held prior to the Browning-Ferris ruling, “two or more entities will be deemed joint employers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) if there is proof that one entity has exercised control over essential employment terms…
