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Full-Text Articles in Law
Stifling Nascent Concerted Activity: The Nlrb And The Alstate Decision, Melanie R. Allen
Stifling Nascent Concerted Activity: The Nlrb And The Alstate Decision, Melanie R. Allen
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made a number of significant changes to the interpretation and enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act) under the Trump administration. The collective impact of these changes may make it more difficult for workers to bring successful unfair labor practice charges against their employers. Although NLRB case decisions and rulemaking affect a large proportion of American workers, the significance of these policy changes is often not widely recognized. This Note will examine one such change—the Board’s 2019 Alstate Maintenance decision that overturned its 2011 decision in WorldMark by Wyndham.
Twenty-First Century Labor Law: Striking The Right Balance Between Workplace Civility Rules That Accommodate Equal Employment Opportunity Obligations And The Loss Of Protection For Concerted Activities Under The National Labor Relations Act, Christine Neylon O'Brien
William & Mary Business Law Review
Employees who engage in protected concerted activities relating to work generally are shielded from discipline by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Where otherwise protected work-related activity involves profanity or offensive speech or actions, whether in or out of the workplace, on a picket line, or on social media, such may violate employer civility rules and/or equal employment opportunity laws. Important interests are at stake, including for employers to maintain a safe, discrimination-free workplace; and for employees to exercise their right to communicate about workplace matters. This Article analyzes recent cases on the question when offensive employee …
Structural Labor Rights, Hiba Hafiz
Structural Labor Rights, Hiba Hafiz
Michigan Law Review
American labor law was designed to ensure equal bargaining power between workers and employers. But workers’ collective power against increasingly dominant employers has disintegrated. With union density at an abysmal 6.2 percent in the private sector—a level unequaled since the Great Depression— the vast majority of workers depend only on individual negotiations with employers to lift stagnant wages and ensure upward economic mobility. But decentralized, individual bargaining is not enough. Economists and legal scholars increasingly agree that, absent regulation to protect workers’ collective rights, labor markets naturally strengthen employers’ bargaining power over workers. Existing labor and antitrust law have failed …