11,000 UPS Freight workers could go on strike Monday morning. The workers, who are represented by the Teamsters Union, have been voting on a new contract since November 7. Votes will be tallied on Sunday, and if the negotiated contract does not pass, a strike is expected. The last UPS strike in 1997 lasted 16 days and involved 185,000 workers.

Although UPS Freight, where multiple companies share truck shipping space, differs from the UPS small packages unit most customers use, a UPS Freight strike could still impact holiday pricing and scheduling.

Read more about the potential strike here.

The US Department of Labor is expected to issue new regulations that would require the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teacher state affiliates to file detailed financial disclosure reports.

As expected, the NEA intends to challenge the regulations, as they did under President Bush. Although a DC Court eventually ruled against the NEA after a long legal battle last time, the Obama administration rescinded the rule.

To read more about the expected regulation, check out the Education Intelligence Agency’s article here.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on September 13th that it would publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to their joint-employer standard. The proposed rule would define an employer as a joint-employer only if it “possesses and exercises substantial, direct and immediate control over the essential terms and conditions of employment and has done so in a manner that is not limited and routine.”

Public comments are invited on the new rule with NLRB Chairman John F. Ring stating, “I look forward to receiving the public’s comments and to working with my colleagues to promulgate a final rule that clarifies the joint-employer standard in a way that promotes meaningful collective bargaining and advances the purposes of the Act.”

Read the official press release here.

President Trump has nominated Democrat Mark Gaston Pearce for a third term to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Pearce has served for eight years on the board and has faced sharp criticism from Republicans and businesses during that time. His nomination came days after Bloomberg Law reported on negotiations which discussed Pearce’s nomination in exchange for Democrats agreeing to waive waiting periods and confirm specific pending nominations.

Read more about Pearce and his third term nomination here.

Each year, a home and health care waiver program through Medicaid provides billions of dollars to individuals with a disability, illness, or other chronic condition to aide them in paying for home health care services. Often, family members, friends, and local workers provide these services.

For years, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), has been collecting dues from these healthcare workers without their permission, even having them reclassified as state employees so they would be forced to pay into the union.

But these workers are not alone. Groups like MNCPA, a Minnesota coalition of personal care attendants, are fighting for their rights, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced a proposed rule change to help end the practice of public funds being diverted to union coffers. They accepted public comments on this potential rule change through August 13.

To learn more about this “dues skimming” practice, read this article at Heartland.org.

In a blow to unions, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel Peter Robb has directed the agency’s lawyers not to object when a worker who has petitioned to decertify a union wants to intervene in an unfair labor practice case. In the past, unions have used these cases to slow down or halt a decertification process. Allowing employees to participate in the cases will give union opponents more power to fight against the unions.

Bloomberg Law discusses the details and implications of this decision (in an article where I’ve also been quoted) here.