OnLabor

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Author:Andrew Strom

Andrew Strom is a union lawyer based in New York City. He is also an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

This is What a Lawless Judicial Opinion Looks Like

Jun 11, 2025 Andrew Strom

One basic element of the rule of law is that rules and principles are applied equally, regardless of which party benefits. When Donald Trump referred to “Obama judges” during his first term, Chief Justice John Roberts asserted, “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges, or Clinton judges.” On one level, that’s nonsense. Of course […]

The NLRB’s Existence is at Stake

May 22, 2025 Andrew Strom

It seems increasing likely that Gwynne Wilcox’s lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her in the middle of her five-year term as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board will, one way or the other, result in the end of the NLRB as we have known it. Congress created the NLRB as an […]

Maybe Disclosure Doesn’t Work

May 6, 2025 Andrew Strom

I used to think that disclosure laws had the potential to change corporate behavior. The idea is that if businesses have to publicly disclose what they are up to, then they will be shamed into changing their conduct. The problem is that much like the current President, corporate leaders seem increasingly immune from any sense of shame. […]

Why We Need Federal “Bureaucrats”

Mar 4, 2025 Andrew Strom

Elon Musk has literally been brandishing a chain saw to symbolize his efforts to fire federal workers. Across the country, the federal government employs about 3 million civilians. The Defense Department employs about 750,000 of these, far more than any other department. Federal employees do a wide variety of jobs, but many of them work […]

Will Any Management Lawyers Stand Up to Trump?

Jan 31, 2025 Andrew Strom

Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Gwynne Wilcox, the only Black woman who has ever served as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board, is blatantly illegal. Union leaders quickly condemned this action. Wilcox, a former union lawyer, was appointed by President Biden, and I’m sure management lawyers didn’t always like her decisions. But, the […]

A Roadmap for More Effective NLRB Remedies

Jan 27, 2025 Andrew Strom

The Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion that addressed the National Labor Relations Board’s decision in Thryv Inc., regarding the scope of remedies available for victims of unfair labor practices. In Thryv, the Board held that in addition to backpay, workers should be able to recover for “direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms” that flow from […]

Assessing Biden’s NLRB

Jan 13, 2025 Andrew Strom

President Biden promised to be the most pro-union, pro-worker President in history. One way he sought to achieve this goal was through his appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. For a little over three years, from September 2021 until December 16, 2024, Biden’s appointees formed a majority on the NLRB. Despite the talk about […]

Proving What Happened Behind Closed Doors

Dec 27, 2024 Andrew Strom

Somehow, we have reached a point where it is conceivable that the Supreme Court might discover after 90 years that the structure of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unconstitutional. But, while the NLRB faces this existential threat, other judges are using traditional tools to make it harder for workers to obtain justice. One […]

Making Arguments to Trump Judges

Nov 22, 2024 Andrew Strom

Despite what Chief Justice Roberts says, there are Trump judges, and the challenge for lawyers who represent workers is how to frame arguments in a way that will persuade them, or at least give them pause. The only chance for success is to find a principle they have applied where they are sympathetic to one […]

Here’s How Loper Bright is Stripping Away Workers’ Rights

Oct 4, 2024 Andrew Strom

The Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo was not exactly something most workers were likely to discuss in the break room. Every time I’ve tried to explain it to non-lawyers, I find myself struggling to explain the concept of “deference,” and what it means in the real world for courts to apply […]

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OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

OnLabor is a blog devoted to workers, unions, and their politics. We interpret our subject broadly to include the current crisis in the traditional union movement (why union decline is happening and what it means for our society); the new and contested forms of worker organization that are filling the labor union gap; how work ought to be structured and managed; how workers ought to be represented and compensated; and the appropriate role of government — all three branches — in each of these issues.

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This is What a Lawless Judicial Opinion Looks Like

The NLRB’s Existence is at Stake

Maybe Disclosure Doesn’t Work

Why We Need Federal “Bureaucrats”

Will Any Management Lawyers Stand Up to Trump?

A Roadmap for More Effective NLRB Remedies

Assessing Biden’s NLRB

Proving What Happened Behind Closed Doors

Making Arguments to Trump Judges

Here’s How Loper Bright is Stripping Away Workers’ Rights