The following article was first published on Shipman & Goodwin’s Employment Law Letter. It is reposted here with permission.
A new California law is the latest litigation target of the National Labor Relations Board.
Signed into law in September, Assembly Bill 288 amended California labor law to allow the state’s labor board to certify unions and resolve labor disputes in the private sector when the NLRB “expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction.”
When, exactly, does the NLRB cede jurisdiction (expressly or impliedly) under the new law? Under a number of conditions, including when the NLRB cannot render a decision due to a lack of quorum, when a case sits for over six months, or the NLRB fails to certify a union within six months.
The NLRB will also cede its jurisdiction if the Supreme Court finds that its members are “unconstitutionally protected from removal.”
In its preamble, the Assembly Bill 288 makes clear that the aim of the bill is to create a state remedy for the NLRB’s “inefficacy” at “protecting and enforcing workers’ rights.”
California’s law joins Section 715 of the New York State Labor Relations Act, which now requires the NLRB to seek a court order any time it wants to assert jurisdiction.
Expectedly, the NLRB has filed a lawsuit to enjoin the enforcement of Assembly Bill 288, just as it did Section 715 of the New York State Labor Relations Act.
The National Labor Relations Act governs private sector labor relations in the U.S.
If there is a labor...
Rap star Nicki Minaj made an appearance at the US mission to the United Nations to echo President Donald Trump’s false claim that Christians are being systematically killed in Nigeria. Minaj appea...