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Category: Executive Order

FAR Council Issues Final Rule Implementing 2022 Biden PLA Executive Order

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council has issued a final rule directing federal agency contracting officers to insert a project labor agreement (PLA) requirement into most solicitations or prime contracts that will cost the government at least $35 million. The rule implements a 2022 Executive Order (E.O. 14063) from President Biden that essentially mandates the use of union labor on...
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Category: Biden Administration

President Biden Adds Global Labor Rights to His Pro-Union Action Plan

President Biden has launched another initiative to advance labor union rights, this time from a global perspective. In a memorandum entitled “Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally,” President Biden directed executive branch agencies “to pursue a whole-of-government approach to advancing worker empowerment and organizing, workers’ rights, and labor standards globally.” The memorandum has no immediate impact on...
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Category: Labor Relations

Fifth Circuit Reverses Biden-Era NLRB Ruling on Tesla’s “Team Wear” Policy

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has overturned a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finding that a team-wear policy of non-union automaker Tesla violated federal labor law. Tesla’s policy required employees to wear t-shirts emblazoned with the company logo. It allowed employees to wear stickers with union insignia on the shirts, but it did...
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Category: Congress

NLRB Delays Joint Employer Rule Effective Date in Response to Legal Challenges

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has postponed the effective date of its controversial new joint employer rule until February 26, 2024, two months later than the originally announced effective date of December 26, 2023. The Board said it is delaying the rule’s implementation “to facilitate resolution of legal challenges.” Two lawsuits have been filed to challenge the rule—one by...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Latest Annual NLRB Enforcement Numbers Show Another Sharp Increase in ULP Charges Filed

The number of unfair labor practice (ULP) charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) by workers and their union representatives has increased by 30% over the last two years, according to NLRB enforcement data. The 19,869 ULP charges filed in FY 2023 are the highest number of charges filed since FY 2016. The NLRB’s annual enforcement...
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Category: Labor Relations

NLRB, Brushing Off Employer Objections, Issues Expanded Joint Employer Rule

The Biden-appointed Democratic majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has issued a final rule redefining the standard for determining when two employers are considered a joint employer under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The new rule will make it much easier for a business to be found to be a joint employer of another company’s employees and...
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Category: Biden Administration

Biden-Era NLRB Continues To Give Federal Labor Law a Pro-Union Tilt

The Biden-appointed Democratic majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) is continuing to give a pro-union tilt to federal labor law by reversing the Trump-era Board’s management-friendly rulings. With the Senate confirmation of Biden appointee Gwynne A. Wilcox to a second five-year term on September 6, 2023, the NLRB will have a union-friendly majority at least through...
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Category: Labor Relations

NLRB Issues Rule To Speed Up Union Representation Election Process

The Biden-appointed majority on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has issued a final rule intended to speed up union representation elections. The rule removes several time-consuming steps put in place by the Trump-era Board and is expected to benefit unions seeking representation by giving employers less time to dissuade workers from forming or joining a union. The new...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OSHA Issues Proposal To Reinstate Controversial “Union Walkaround Policy”

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed revising its regulations to expressly permit employees to designate third parties, such as labor union officials, to accompany OSHA compliance officers on walkaround inspections of an employer’s workplace. The proposal essentially seeks to reinstate an Obama Administration policy that was ruled unlawful because it was not adopted through...
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Category: Labor Relations

NLRB Scuttles “Boeing” Standard, Adopts Test More Likely To Find Work Rules Violate the NLRA

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has crafted a new standard that will make it more difficult for an employer to apply an otherwise neutral workplace conduct rule without violating federal labor law. Stericycle Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (August 2, 2023), adopted a “reasonable tendency to chill” test, under which a challenged workplace rule or policy is...

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