Deal reached to end Jersey City teacher strike

A deal was reached Sunday night on a new contract for Jersey City's teachers, paving the way for them to return to classrooms Monday morning after striking on Friday.

The tentative contract agreement would end an eight-month dispute between the 29,000-student district and its 3,100 teachers. It must be approved by the nine-member school board and members of the teachers union.

Pitt to challenge grad student union election petition

Pitt administrators have told the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board they plan challenge the graduate student petition to hold a union election, organizers said Wednesday.

Pitt will look to convince the board that graduate students aren’t employees. The labor board in February ruled that graduate students at Penn State were considered employees and could unionize.
In a post on Facebook, the Graduate Student Organizing Committee called the move an “attempt to drag out the process in hopes of busting our union.” 

Right-to-work holdouts face new efforts to change labor laws

Backers of so-called right-to-work laws are focusing on changing labor laws in a handful of holdout states in the Midwest.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Hemmed in by a growing number of states that block mandatory union fees in workplaces, holdout states in the Midwest are facing renewed attempts to enact so-called right-to-work laws.


Missouri's new law will go to a statewide referendum in November, while a pair of Republican lawmakers in Ohio announced last month they want to put the issue before voters in two years.

Nurses move to kick out SEIU from UPMC McKeesport

This year, union nurses at UPMC McKeesport will begin negotiating a new three-year labor contract with the hospital.

But the Service Employees International Union that represents the nearly 200 nurses there faces a more immediate, existential challenge — one brought by some among its own ranks.

A group of union nurses is seeking to kick out the SEIU, which has represented employees at the hospital for decades. The nurses filed a petition in December with the National Labor Relations Board, asking for an election that would determine whether members still want to be part of the union. 

Court to Decide Arbitrability in IBEW Union's Case Against DNC

An arbitrator handling a dispute between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, the Democratic National Committee and several broadcast networks did not have the authority to determine whether that case could in fact be arbitrated, a federal judge has ruled.

An arbitrator handling a dispute between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, the Democratic National Committee and several broadcast networks did not have the authority to determine whether that case could in fact be arbitrated, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted motions to dismiss, and in doing so, held that the court had jurisdiction to decide the arbitrability of the case.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of December 11 - 15, 2017

UPMC and its subsidiary, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, single employer, d/b/a UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and d/b/a UPMC Shadyside Hospital  (06-CA-102465, et al.; 365 NLRB No. 153)  Pittsburgh, PA, December 11, 2017.

A full Board majority consisting of Chairman Miscimarra and Members Kaplan and Emanuel affirmed the Administrative Law Judge’s supplemental decision granting UPMC’s partial motion to dismiss a single-employer allegation against UPMC, based on UPMC’s offer to guarantee the performance by Presbyterian Shadyside of any remedy ultimately ordered against Presbyterian Shadyside.  This case involves a complaint against UPMC and its subsidiary Presbyterian Shadyside, based on unfair labor practices allegedly committed by Presbyterian Shadyside.  The majority found, as did the judge, that UPMC’s offer to act as guarantor of any remedies ultimately awarded against Presbyterian Shadyside effectuates the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act and that the judge properly accepted the proffered terms in settlement of the single-employer allegation against UPMC.  In doing so, the majority overruled United States Postal Service, 364 NLRB No. 116 (2016) (Postal Service), where a divided Board held that the appropriate

'Right to work' in Ohio? GOP lawmaker wants voters to choose

COLUMBUS – Undeterred by the acrimonious fight over Senate Bill 5, GOP Rep. John Becker wants voters to choose whether Ohio should become a right-to-work state. 

On Monday, Becker, R-Union Township in Clermont County, announced six proposed constitutional amendments that would restrict unions' ability to organize, pay for operations and recruit new members.

“It’s about freedom for the workers – that nobody should have to support the union," Becker told The Enquirer. "When there is mandated membership, there isn’t much motivation for the unions to be accountable." 

Among the proposals:

• Pass private-sector right to work: No worker at a private business would be required to join a union. Under the current system, employees cannot be forced to join unions. However, state law allows collective bargaining agreements to require "fair share" payments, which are less than union dues.

Pennsylvania Legislature seeks to limit unions' political donations and protect themselves

The Pennsylvania Legislature moved a step closer to preventing governments from deducting political donations from unionized workers’ paychecks — and protect lawmakers’ ability to mix work and politics.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House approved Senate Bill 166 that prohibits state, county and local governments from using their payroll systems to let teachers, police officers, firefighters and other workers from voluntarily asking their employers to deduct money for their respective union’s political action committees. The bill, which passed the GOP-controlled Senate in February, would apply to all unions after their current contracts expire.

Labor Harmony on a Mixed-Trade Project

Construction projects that have a mixture of union and non-union trades are becoming more prevalent. A contractor undertaking a mixed-trade project must understand that harmonizing these two groups may present challenging issues. (This article does not address area-wide strikes, only strikes specific to a single, mixed-trade project.)

As with many problems, those involving labor harmony often begin with the owner-contractor agreement. Owners are increasingly insisting on labor-harmony provisions that obligate the contractor to staff the job despite the occurrence of picketing activity and prohibit the contractor from obtaining extra time or money for delay or disruption occurring as a result of picketing activity. Therefore, contractors must understand their risks and know how to manage a mixed-trade project in order to minimize the risk of delay and disruption.
If the owner is responsible for supplying the nonunion labor, the contractor may want to consider negotiating the prime contract for entitlement to time and cost increases in the event of a picketing delay or disruption. However, if the contractor hires the nonunion labor, the owner will likely expect the contractor to bear the risk of time and cost impacts due to delay or disruption as a result of picketing activity.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of November 6 - 9, 2017

R Cases

Indiana Voice and Data, Inc.  (25-RC-182936)  Bloomington, IN, November 9, 2017.  The Board denied the Employer’s Request for Review of the Regional Director’s Supplemental Decision and Direction of Re-Run Election as it raised no substantial issues warranting review. Chairman Miscimarra did not reach or pass on the Regional Director’s sustaining of certain objections.  Chairman Miscimarra and Members Pearce and McFerran participated.

C Cases

United States Postal Service  (05-CA-180590)  Alexandria, VA, November 6, 2017.  The Board denied the Acting General Counsel’s Motion to Rescind Order Transferring Proceeding to the Board, without prejudice to her right to renew the arguments before the Board on any exceptions to the judge’s decision that she may choose to file.  Charge filed by an individual.  Chairman Miscimarra and Members Pearce and McFerran participated.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 30 - November 3, 2017

C Cases

B & H Foto & Electronics Corp.  (29-CA-191326)  Brooklyn, NY, October 31, 2017.  The Board denied the Respondent’s Request for Special Permission to Appeal the Administrative Law Judge’s Order Denying Respondent’s Motion for a Bill of Particulars and Motion to Hold Hearing in Abeyance Pending Outcome of Special Permission to Appeal.  The Board found that the Respondent failed to establish that the judge abused his discretion in denying the motions.  Charge filed by District 2, United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC.  Members McFerran, Kaplan, and Emanuel participated.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 23 - 27, 2017

Transit Connection, Inc.  (01-CA-179805; 365 NLRB No. 143)  Edgartown, MA, October 25, 2017.
The Board granted the General Counsel’s Motion for Summary Judgment on the basis that there were no material issues of fact regarding the complaint’s allegations warranting a hearing.  The Board found that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by failing and refusing to respond to the Union’s request for information that was relevant and necessary to the performance of its duties as the exclusive bargaining-representative of the unit and by failing to furnish the information.

Charge filed by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1548, AFL-CIO.  Chairman Miscimarra and Members Pearce and Kaplan participated.

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How Right To Work Laws Are Making Inroads Even In Blue States

Earlier this year Missouri became the 28th state in the nation to enact a Right to Work law freeing workers from being forced to join a union as a condition of unemployment. Other states to enact Right to Work in recent years include union stronghold states like Michigan and Wisconsin, where the prospect of Right to Work legislation having a chance at passage seemed like a pipe dream only a few years ago.

Right-to-work laws give workers freedom from being forced to join a union and pay dues. Before the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which permitted states to enact Right to Work laws, all American workers could be forced to join a union as a condition of obtaining and maintaining employment.

Kentucky is another state to recently pass Right to Work, with Gov. Matt Bevin (R) signing it into law in January. Prior to statewide passage of Right to Work, 13 county governments across the Bluegrass State had already gone ahead and enacted local Right to Work laws in order to make those localities more attractive to employers, investment, and job creation. It’s a smart move for local governments that have state legislatures whose political composition precludes statewide passage of Right to Work.

Petitions turned in to repeal Michigan prevailing wage law

A group turned in more than 380,000 signatures Friday for veto-proof legislation to repeal Michigan's 52-year-old law that requires higher "prevailing" wages to be paid on state-financed construction work.

If state election officials certify that roughly 252,000 are valid, the bill will go to the Republican-controlled Legislature, whose leaders support it despite GOP Gov. Rick Snyder's backing of the existing law.

Legislators would have a 40-day window to vote or else the measure would receive a public vote in November 2018.

Snyder, who has opposed identical bills introduced in the Legislature, could not veto the initiated legislation.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 16 - 20, 2017

C Cases

Local 560, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (County Concrete Corporation)  (22-CC-083895 and 22-CE-084893)  Union City, NJ, October 17, 2017.  The General Counsel filed a renewed Motion for Default Judgment pursuant to the terms of an informal settlement agreement and the Board’s instructions in Teamsters Local 560 (County Concrete Corp.), 362 NLRB No. 183 (2015) (denying, without prejudice, the General Counsel’s motion to strike portions of the Respondent’s answer, for summary default judgment, and for the issuance of a Board decision and order, and permitting the General Counsel to file a renewed motion).  In its Order, the Board denied the General Counsel’s renewed Motion for Default Judgment and remanded the proceeding to the Regional Director for appropriate action consistent with the Board’s Order.  In reaching this determination, the Board stated that the General Counsel provided a sufficient explanation of how the violations in Teamsters Local 560 (County Concrete Corp.), 362 NLRB No. 183 (2015) breached the terms of the Performance provision in the settlement agreement.  However, the Board further explained, it was compelled to deny the renewed Motion for Default Judgment because the complaint fails to allege violations of Section 8(e), 8(b)(4)(ii)(A), and 8(b)(4)(ii)(B).  Charges filed by County Concrete Corporation.  Chairman Miscimarra and Members Pearce and McFerran participated.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 10 - 13, 2017

Midwest Terminals of Toledo International, Inc.  (08-CA-135971 and 08-CA-136613; 365 NLRB No. 138)  Toledo, OH, October 11, 2017.

The Board adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s conclusions that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by unilaterally changing the selection process and criteria for adding employees to its contractual skilled employee list, and violated Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by discriminatorily denying an employee placement on the skilled list because of his union support and activities (while concurring in finding the Sec. 8(a)(3) violation, Chairman Miscimarra, unlike his colleagues, did not rely on any evidence of the Respondent’s contemporaneous unfair labor practice charges).  Specifically, the Respondent hires from an “Order of Call,” which is divided into a “skilled list” of employees who are generally expected to work on a daily basis and a “regular list” of laborers who work more sporadically.  The Board found that the Respondent departed from an established past practice of meeting with the Union to discuss and confer over the selection of employees for skilled list placement before placing them.  Further, the Board found that the Respondent improperly disregarded the contractual qualifications and seniority rules for skilled list placement by selecting certain employees over others.  Finally, as to one such employee, the Respondent’s denial of placement on the skilled list also violated the Act based on record evidence of antiunion animus.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of October 2 - 6, 2017

Novato Healthcare Center  (20-CA-168351; 365 NLRB No. 137)  Novato, CA, September 29, 2017.

The Board unanimously adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s conclusions that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(3) and (1) by suspending and discharging four employees because of their union activity and a fifth, neutral employee in order to justify its disciplines of the first four.  A majority (Members Pearce and McFerran) also adopted the judge’s conclusion that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(1) by coercively interrogating an employee.  Dissenting, Chairman Miscimarra would not have found that the Respondent’s question to the employee was unlawful.

Kumho Tire employees vote ‘no’ to union. United Steelworkers to file objection

Employees at the Kumho Tire plant in Macon voted 164 to 136 against representation by the United Steelworkers union.

But it’s not the final move by the union.

“We will file objections to the election because we believe the employer committed many unfair labor practices,” Maria Somma, director of organizing with the steelworkers union in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in an email late Friday night. “We will file with the national labor relations board.”

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of September 18 - 22, 2017

Gulf Coast Rebar, Inc.  (12-CA-149627, et al.; 365 NLRB No. 128)  Jacksonville, FL, September 18, 2017.

The Board (Members Pearce and McFerran; Chairman Miscimarra, dissenting) reversed the Administrative Law Judge and found that the Respondent violated Section 8(a)(5) and (1) by failing to respond to the Union’s information request.  The Respondent had contended that it had effectively repudiated the collective-bargaining agreement and was under no obligation to respond to the Union’s information request, and, in any event, that the Union’s charge was untimely.

Summary of NLRB Decisions for Week of September 25 - 29, 2017

Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours & Charters, Inc., a wholly owned Subsidiary of Coach USA, Inc., and Megabus West, LLC, an indirectly owned Subsidiary of Coach USA, Inc.  (21-CA-168811 and 21-RC-167379; 365 NLRB No. 131)  Anaheim, Bakersfield, and Van Nuys, CA, September 27, 2017.  Errata to Decision and Order issued September 18, 2017.  Errata   Amended Decision.