On November 13, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Amazon.com Services LLC, holding that "captive-audience meetings" are unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This decision reverses 76 years of precedent, which permitted employers to hold such meetings.
Captive-audience meetings are mandatory meetings occurring during work time, where employers share their views on unionization. During these meetings, employers attempt to counter any misinformation employees may have received from unions prior to secret ballot elections.
In 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which amended the NLRA. One such amendment to the NLRA was Section 8(c), which provides that an employer can express its views on unionization to employees without being subject to an unfair labor practice, provided that the expression of such view does not contain a "threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit."
The following year, in Babcock & Wilcox Co., the Board held that an employer can lawfully require its employees "to attend a meeting during which it expressed its antiunion views." The Babcock precedent is based largely on Section 8(c) of the Act, which was part of multiple amendments made in the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act. Section 8(c) provides:
The expressing of any views, argument, or opinion, or the dissemination thereof, whether in written, printed, graphic or visual form, shall not constitute or be evidence of an...
A slew of NYPD officers recounted on Sunday horror stories from their careers in which they say they were falsely accused of sexual misconduct and, despite being exonerated, had the allegations sh...