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Labor Relations / Unions

Growing threat: Courts uphold broad interpretation of retaliation

05/01/2001
John McMenemy was a lieutenant in the Rochester Fire Department as well as a union officer. He claimed the city twice passed him over for promotion because, while in his union …

State may trump your CBA on family leave.

05/01/2001
Under Oscar Mayer’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), paid sick leave doesn’t start until at least the fourth day of absence. But Wisconsin’s labor department says that under the state’s family leave …

What equals a disability under the ADA? Supreme Court to rule

05/01/2001
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to tackle the vexing question of just how serious an impairment has to be before it’s protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Courts …

Unon ‘salt’ entitled to double pay.

04/01/2001
When Ferguson Electric refused to hire David Carr because he was a union organizer, the company was found guilty of unfair labor practices and ordered to pay back wages. The company …

Federal contractors: Notify staff of right to skip certain union dues

04/01/2001
The Bush administration recently ordered federal contractors to notify workers who are not in a union, but must pay union dues, that they have the right not to pay certain portions …

Cyberspace snooping can cost you

03/01/2001
Pilot Robert Konop was so upset with his employer and the union that he created a Web site to vent his feelings, even accusing the company president of fraud and comparing …

How to respond when unions come a knockin’

02/01/2001
No union, no problem. Right? Not really. Even if your company isn’t unionized now, you can’t afford to be oblivious. Just ask Amazon.com. In the thick of the holiday shopping …

New schedule legal, barring contract or illegal reason

02/01/2001

Q. Our company of 15 employees manufactures labels in California. We have an employee whom we want to move from the day shift to the swing shift. Although this employee has the most seniority, he has the least experience with the presses we run during the day. When we told the employee of our plans, he said that moving him would be illegal. Is he correct? We are worried that if we move him and he quits, it won’t be the last time that we hear from him. —T.R., California

Don’t count on seniority system to block reassignment of disabled

12/01/2000
After injuring his back while working in a cargo job for USAir, Robert Barnett used his seniority to transfer to the company’s mailroom. When he learned two workers with more seniority …

Iron out union, legal issues

11/01/2000

Q. We have an apparent conflict between our union agreement and our responsibility to maintain a harassment-free workplace. The agreement says we must give the shop steward 48 hours’ notice before dismissing a regular employee. But we have proof positive that two employees have been harassing—and continue to harass—African-American and gay employees. The two harassers have just caused us to lose a good employee who couldn’t take it any longer. What trumps what? —J.V., Louisiana