Tag: unionization

Healthcare Leaders Shares Best Practices for Communicating with Unions

Right now, it seems like every day there are new cases of workers striking or unionizing all across the country. Healthcare is no exception: nurses everywhere are going on strike. Nurses are frustrated, and the recent union activity is indicative of large, widespread problems in the nursing industry with staffing, work environment, and nurse wellbeing. […]

Cruisin’ for a Brew-sin’: SCOTUS to Resolve Circuit Split Over Unionization at Starbucks

The boiling dispute over the unionization of baristas is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) authorizes federal courts to issue preliminary court orders against employers that are allegedly violating federal labor law. This allows the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to seek such extraordinary relief […]

Nationwide Right to Unionize Act Reintroduced

On September 8, 2022, federal Congressional legislators from Massachusetts and California reintroduced the Nationwide Right to Unionize Act, which takes aim at state “right to work” laws and attempts to increase employees’ right to unionize. Section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits compulsory union membership and payment of union dues and fees […]

Employers Should Take Note of Recent Spike in Union Organizing Activity

In the first quarter of 2022, unions filed more than 550 election petitions in the United States, compared with only 290 in the first quarter of 2021. It’s the largest first-quarter number filed in the past seven years. While part of the increase can be attributed to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has […]

Coming Soon to a Store Near You: Union Organizing Campaign

After years of declining membership, unions are redoubling their efforts to sell their product (membership) to new customers. While they have long targeted grocery stores like Kroger and SuperValu, they are now moving into the so-called “new economy” by zeroing in on employers like Amazon and Starbucks.

Get Ready for Union Organizing on Steroids

Against the backdrop of a new presidential administration, an evolving workforce, and a changing economy brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape for union organizing has radically changed over the past two years. While the nation’s attention is currently focused on unionization efforts at household names such as Amazon and Starbucks, employers of all […]

Want a Union Card with Your Latte? Labor Activity Starts Percolating at Starbucks

For some people, loyalty to a particular coffee brand rivals their devotion to a favorite college football team. Kathleen, my spouse, would crawl three miles over broken glass for her Starbucks Americano decaf. I favor QuikTrip and McDonald’s coffee. Within the last three months, employees at several Starbucks locations voted to unionize. Seem like isolated […]

4 Tips to Avoid Union Strikes

Some 450 members of United Steelworkers Local 40 went on strike on October 1, 2021, when the union failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with management at Special Metals, a plant based in Huntington, West Virginia, which develops and produces nickel alloys. Like many employers dealing with strikes, it’s likely Special Metals is […]

NLRB

Latest NLRB reversal takes aim at ‘microunits’

The latest National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision reversing actions by the Obama-era Board hands employers a win against an organizing tactic that gave unions the upper hand in determining what constitutes an appropriate bargaining unit. As was the case with other mid-December decisions, the Board turned the old standard into the new standard. On […]