Monday morning musings for workplace watchers.

NLRB Tackles Precedents|Michigan’s ‘Right to Work’ Law

Robert Iafolla: The National Labor Relations Board has a slew of cases teed up that challenge existing precedents, giving the Democratic majority ample opportunity to continue shifting labor law in a more worker- and union-friendly direction.

The NLRB general counsel’s office is targeting decisions from the Trump era in the cases awaiting board rulings, and calls for the toppling of even older precedents. In one case, it advocates retooling a legal framework first minted in 1950.

NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran recently defended the Democratic majority’s output of precedential rulings in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Law, predicting a “robust production” of rulings in the coming year.

The board chiefly sets labor law policy via precedent-setting rulings in individual cases. General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo acts as an advocate, prosecuting unfair labor practice cases and sometimes asking for changes in the law. Abruzzo set forth an ambitious agenda to remake labor law shortly after she took over the agency’s legal division.

The NLRB has announced its plans to possibly change the law by taking public comment on a trio of cases that could topple Trump-era rulings by changing the standard for employment classification, amending the framework for assessing the lawfulness of workplace rules and employer handbook provisions, and prohibiting confidentiality requirements in...

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