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Jennifer Abruzzo, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board issued a new memo, 23-02, over her concerns that electronic surveillance by employers is impairing employees’ ability to engage in protected concerted activity and keeping that activity confidential from their employer. GC Abruzzo refers to case law that is, for the most part, dated…

According to a recent Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans “approve of labor unions,” up three percentage points from 2021.

This represents a generational high-water mark for union support – the last time Gallup measured a higher union approval rating among the American public was 1959 when 73 Americans approved of labor unions. Prior to this year, union support had remained lower than 70% ever since union support dropped to 66 percent in 1967. The low-water mark was reached in 2009 when unions enjoyed only 48% support from the American public.…

Continue Reading Union Support Reaches Generational High-Water Mark as Union Election Petitions Surge

On August 29, 2022, the NLRB issued its decision in Tesla, Inc., overruling precedent that allowed employers to enforce facially-neutral dress codes to prohibit wearing non-conforming attire, including union insignia and union logos. Now, employers must allow employees to wear union attire absent a showing of “special circumstances.”
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Continue Reading NLRB Mandates National Dress Code

It has become increasingly apparent that the Biden Administration’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is aggressively pushing labor-friendly positions, like those seen under the Obama Administration.

Now it appears the NLRB’s General Counsel has taken aim at Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act), and in so doing undermines 75 years of jurisprudence as “incorrectly concluded.”

On April 7, 2022, the NLRB announced the General Counsel’s desire to restrict employers’ ability to speak to their employees about unions, whether in so-called “captive audience” meetings, or whether “cornered by management while performing their job duties.” The General Counsel claims such meetings and conversations “inherently involve an unlawful threat that employees will be disciplined or suffer other reprisals if they exercise their protected right not to listen to such speech.”…

Continue Reading NLRB Seeks to Reduce Company Speech About Unions

In this episode, we take an in-depth look at what an unfair labor practice is, why non-union employers need to be wary of these federal law violations, and how to avoid running afoul of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). We will also discuss National Labor Relations Board (Board) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s recent guidance…

The Labor Law Insider takes on the recharged union optimism and activity in this podcast episode. Moderator Tom Godar is joined by members of Husch Blackwell’s Labor Law team, Terry Potter, Tom O’Day, and Rufino Gaytán, to discuss the increase in public support for unions, recent changes in organizing activities by unions, and implications for…

Earlier this spring, in a 3-1 vote, the Board issued a notice and solicited briefs on whether to reconsider Johnnie’s Poultry doctrine (doctrine), which was established in the 1964 Board decision, Johnnie’s Poultry Co. The doctrine balances the legitimate need of the employer to question employees as part of its investigation of facts and preparation of its defense for the litigation of unfair labor charges in administrative hearings against the employees’ right to engage in protected activity or otherwise exercise their statutory rights under section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (Act). To minimize the risk of coercive behavior levied against employees during the interviews, the doctrine establishes safeguards that limit the scope and manner of  employers’ interviews with employees. Chair McFerran, the sole Democrat on the Board, opposes reconsideration of the doctrine and dissented from the notice.
Continue Reading NLRB Decision to Reconsider Johnnie’s Poultry Doctrine Remains Pending

In episode 2 of the Labor Law Insider podcast, Husch Blackwell Attorneys Tom Godar, Rufino Gaytán, and Kat Pearlstone discuss the impacts of the impending policy shift on employer policies and workplace rules regarding:

  • Employee access to IT systems for  nonwork-related communications;
  • Facially neutral workplace rules that negatively impact protected concerted activity;
  • Confidentiality obligations during

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