Is organized labor finally making its resurgence?

Maybe its appropriate (or entirely a coincidence) that during the week in which we celebrate Labor Day, there have been so many stories in the news and in blogs discussing organized labor. Some proof, you ask?

• Board Decision Approves Stationary Bannering as Lawful Tactic in Secondary Boycotts – from the Washington DC Employment Law Update (discussing United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local Union No. 1506, in which the NLRB, in a partisan-line 3-2 decision, concluded that pro-union bannering, when conducted peaceably and independent of other, possibly coercive, conduct, is lawful).

• Obama NLRB Prepares To Eliminate Right to Secret Ballot for Union Organizing – from Mike Eastman at the Chamber Post (discussing the NLRB’s intent to “reconsider” Dana Corp., its 2007 decision which provided a limited window for secret-ballot decertifications following a card check recognition of a union).

• Organized Labor Targets Carwashes – from The Word on Employment Law with John Philips (discussing unions’ efforts to organize carwashes in Southern California).

• Big Labor’s Power Grab – from Mark Mix at the National Review, c/o npr.org (discussing unions’ efforts to overturn pro-management Bush-era NLRB decisions).

• Nostalgia For Unions – from E. J. Dionne at The New Republic, also c/o npr.org (yearning for labor unions in these tough economic times).

What does this all mean? Maybe nothing? More likely, organized labor has decided to stop waiting for President Obama to make good on certain campaign promises (like the Employee Free Choice Act) and take matters into its own hands by taking advantage of its majority on the NLRB. Businesses should prepare themselves for an upswing in organizing efforts, in addition to the possibility of a pro-union NLRB making decisions that reach outside of unionized workplaces to regulate the employer/employee relationship in general.

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Presented by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz, with offices in Cleveland and Columbus. For more information, contact Jon Hyman, a partner in our Labor & Employment group, at (216) 736-7226 or jth@kjk.com.