As we previously predicted, significant changes are taking place at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”). To date, much of that change has been in the agenda set by General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. Now, President Biden has had the opportunity to impact the composition of the Board itself and thus Board law. President Biden has appointed, and the Senate confirmed, two new democratic members to the NLRB: David Prouty and Gwynn Wilcox, who are both former union lawyers. This gives the Democrats a majority on the Board and indicates a strong likelihood that President Biden’s pro-labor agenda will be approved by the Board. It appears that we now know the first significant change this newly constituted Board will tackle.
On December 7, 2021, the Board invited public input on whether to reconsider its standard for evaluating the appropriateness of a petitioned-for bargaining unit in the case American Steel Construction, 371 NLRB No. 41 (2021).
In 2011, the NLRB under the Obama administration significantly changed the law as it relates to bargaining unit determinations. In Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center of Mobile, 357 NLRB 934 (2011), the Board established a standard that a bargaining unit was appropriate if the petitioned for unit was readily identifiable as a group and shared a community of interest. For all practical purposes this allowed unions to set the scope of the bargaining unit unless the...
The Minnesota Supreme Court suspended St. Cloud attorney Gregory Walz, effective Oct. 26, for making false statements in court proceedings, falsifying information in tax documents and representing...