Tala Doumani is a student at Harvard Law School.
Last week, Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert C. Scott (VA-03) and Committee Democrats filed an amicus brief petitioning the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to combat anti-union employers from rigging union representation elections. The brief urges the NLRB to reinstate a policy under Specialty Healthcare, which heightened the burden placed on employers attempting to demonstrate that other excluded employees belong in a petitioned-for bargaining unit.
The NLRB had overturned its decision in Specialty Healthcare on Dec. 5, 2017, in PCC Structurals, Inc. following the election of Donald Trump and a general shift away from Obama-era policies. Committee Democrats state that the current standard provides employers with too much power to effectively gerrymander union elections by adding employees to the voting pool to dilute support for certain union representatives. The Specialty Healthcare standard, on the other hand, provides appropriate deference to workers’ preferences in resolving questions concerning the structure of a bargaining unit, rather than to those of the employer. This, the Committee Democrats argue, is central to worker freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively.
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November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.
November 17
Justices receive petition to resolve FLSA circuit split, vaccine religious discrimination plaintiffs lose ground, and NJ sues Amazon over misclassification.