Labor Relations / Unions

Union wants election at Lumber Bridge, N.C. poultry plant

04/30/2014

The union that represents employees at the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel put on the feed bag in March to publicize efforts to organize employees at another company’s plant nearby. The goal: To build support for forcing a union election at the Mountainaire Farms poultry plant in Lumber Bridge.

Robeson County, N.C. rues teacher rankings under new law

04/30/2014

Hard on the heels of enactment of a new North Carolina law designed to eliminate tenure for public school teachers, the Robeson County Schools have reluctantly developed a point system to rank its teachers. No one, it seems, likes it—not school administrators and not teachers.

Consider letting employees unionize

04/23/2014

What’s an employer to do when it becomes clear employees want to vote on a union? One strategy may surprise you.

NLRB orders Anderson Lumber to negotiate with Teamsters

04/23/2014

The NLRB has ordered a Sacramento-area lumber company to restart contract negotiations with the union that represents its employees.

NLRB ready to back broad union organizing and collective activity

04/15/2014

For the first time in a decade, the NLRB is operating at full strength with five members and a confirmed General Counsel. The new board has a union-side majority and appears poised to expedite union organizing and support other collective activity across an increasingly broad spectrum of unionized and nonunionized workplaces.

Court blocks Teamsters’ bid to thwart company sale

04/14/2014

A court has ruled that the Teamsters union can’t scuttle the sale of Will Poultry, a Buffalo food distributor.

Board members may count as employees for Title VII suit

04/14/2014

Some small nonprofit organizations may think they don’t have to follow Title VII anti-discrimination rules because they only have one or two employees. They could be wrong if the board that manages the organization pays officers to attend meetings and generally holds them accountable for assignments and meetings.

Ensure collective bargaining agreements spell out exact wage-and-hour terms

04/03/2014

Here’s a case that illustrates at least one advantage for employers to a union workplace. If your collective bargaining agreement spells out how pay is calculated and excludes time spent donning and doffing work clothes and safety equipment, a contrary state wage-and-hour law doesn’t apply.

Changing hours: Must we talk to the union first?

03/19/2014

Q. Our employees recently voted for a union and we are now negotiating. Our policies say full-time employee status starts at 30 hours per week. All of our full-time employees currently work 40 hours per week. We want to decrease the hours of some employees (about 25% of them) from eight to six per day. Do we have to bargain with the union on this change or can we just notify them?

St. Paul teachers reach contract accord, avert strike

03/17/2014

Days before a scheduled strike vote in late February, St. Paul teachers reached a tentative deal on a new contract. Overall, teachers will receive an 8.6% increase in pay and benefits over two years.