When Judge Neil Gorsuch accepted his nomination to the Supreme Court, he professed modesty about his role on the Court, if he is confirmed. He proclaimed that it is the role of judges to “apply not alter the work of the people’s representatives.” But, unfort... More »
People have been writing the obituary of the labor movement at least since the 1980s. These doomsayers fall into two camps. One the one hand, there are those who are eager to squelch worker power. A typical example is Virginia Foxx, the new Chair of the Hou... More »
Now that Republicans in Congress are about to get a President who will sign their bills into law, they are eager to overturn even the most modest pro-worker measures that President Obama’s appointees were able to implement. One of the top items on the choppin... More »
The D.C. Circuit once observed that “[i]t is a fact of life in NLRB lore that certain substantive provisions of the NLRA invariably fluctuate with the changing compositions of the Board.” In 2000, the Clinton Board found that teaching and research assistants ... More »
In 1912, when the labor leader Eugene V. Debs ran for President for the fourth time as the Socialist Party candidate, in his acceptance speech he spoke of a day when “the right to work shall be as inviolate as the right to breathe the breath of life.” But, in... More »
This post is part of a series on Labor in the Trump Years. The challenge facing unions following Donald Trump’s victory is a familiar one. Trump, a twenty-first century robber baron, won the election by using a playbook familiar to nineteenth century robber b... More »
Since the Presidential election was so close, it’s very tempting to engage in thought experiments about how different actions might have changed the outcome. And for all of Hillary Clinton’s flaws as a candidate, exit polls suggest that the election can be vi... More »
Many people across the political spectrum have highlighted the importance of this year’s Presidential election to the future of the Supreme Court. Also at stake in the Presidential election is the composition of the lower federal courts. And since judicial a... More »
This post is the second in a two-part series. This is the second of a two-part retrospective on President Obama’s NLRB. The first part addressed how confirmation fights led to three Supreme Court cases and contributed to a change in the filibuster rules. Thi... More »
This post is the first in a two-part series. When Kent Hirozawa’s term ended last month, the NLRB was reduced to three members – two Democrats and one Republican. By tradition, it takes three Board Members to reverse precedent, and since no proposed rules are... More »
Ten years ago, Charles Morris wrote a book called “The Blue Eagle at Work,” where he argued that under the National Labor Relations Act employers have a duty to bargain with minority unions on a members-only basis. After the book came out, the Steelworkers Un... More »
Although we are unlikely to hear the Presidential candidates discuss this issue, a decision issued last week by the D.C. Circuit highlights the ongoing need for labor law reform. The case, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, LLC v. NLRB, demonstrates how employers can f... More »