Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is recommending Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican, to lead the Department of Labor under the incoming Trump administration. She is an odd choice for Trump to consider, given her backing of the economy-destroying PRO Act, and she has already garnered much criticism from many people and groups, including independent contractor advocates. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Michael Saltsman, a partner with Berman & Co. joins host Peter List...

Though not unexpected, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its long-awaited decision, which bans employers from conducting so-called “captive-audience” (aka mandatory) meetings with their employees during union organizing campaigns. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, labor attorney Mike Carrouth, from the law firm Fisher Phillips, shares the basics in what employers are allowed and not allowed to do under this new ruling. Note: Nothing in this episode of Labor Relations...

Employers and their agents beware… Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision in Siren Retail Corp d/b/a Starbucks, overruling Tri-Cast, Inc., 274 NLRB 377 (1985) and clarifying the test that the Board will use to evaluate whether employer predictions about the impact of unionization on the relationship between individual employees and their employer are unlawful threats.  Under the new ruling, if an employer (or its agents) does not carefully parse out their...

With the election of Donald Trump to become the 47th President of the United States, both employers and unions should expect yet another pendulum swing in labor law. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, returning guest Jon Hyman, a shareholder with Wickens Herzer Panza shares some insights as to what we might see coming in 2025. Related Links: * Jon Hyman’s Ohio Employer Law Blog * Jon Hyman on LinkedIn.com * The Norah and Dad Show * Labor Relations Radio, Ep. 18: Guest—The 'Master of...

With the November 5th elections right around the corner, employers and unions alike are girding themselves for what could be a very consequential outcome. In this, the 150th episode of Labor Relations Radio, labor attorney and returning guest Cary Burke joins host Peter List to discuss Elon Musk’s recent victory at the Fifth Circuit over an old tweet, as well as potential labor relations outcomes if Kamala Harris or Donald Trump win the presidency. Other Labor Relations Episodes with Cary...

“It is declared to be the policy of the United States to eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self- organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of...

Returning guest Kim Kavin, a freelance writer, editor and co-founder of Fight for Freelancers has a new Substack: FreelanceBusting.com. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Kim Kavin joins host Peter List to discuss where the battle against the freelance busters stands during this election cycle. Be sure to subscribe to Kim’s substack. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit...

Is Sean O’Brien, the President of the International Brotherhood Teamsters, a “scab” for not endorsing Kamala Harris? Joe Brock is president of Reliant Labor Consultants and a former local president of a large Teamsters local. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Joe returns to the podcast to explain why he believes Sean O’Brien has betrayed union principles by allowing the Teamsters’ non-endorsement. Related: * Labor Relations Radio, E92—Former Teamster leader-turned-consultant Joe...

Last Friday, the Biden-Harris administration—“the most pro-union administration in American history”—issued an Executive Order that overwhelmingly gives unions and unionized employers advantages in obtaining federal work. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, returning guest Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs for the Associated Builders & Contractors explains how this “gift to unions is discouraging for the overwhelming majority of the U.S. construction...

Did you know that more than 95 percent of unionized private-sector employees have never voted to be unionized? As Americans, every two, four, or six years, we head to polls to cast our ballots for who we want to represent us. For unionized workers in the private sector, the vast majority never voted to unionize. According to a new study [in PDF] by the Institute for the American Worker (I4AW), 95 percent of private sector union workers under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) are...

Share this episode of Labor Relations Radio with your colleagues. Alex MacDonald, from the Workplace Policy Institute, returns to Labor Relations Radio to discuss the filing of an amicus brief (for a writ of certiorari) with the U.S. Supreme Court for the Court to clarify a prior decision from 1984 that, if successful, could weaken a new form of "exclusive representation" for unions. Related: * An Amicus Brief Was Just Filed With The Supreme Court Asking The Court To Hear The Issue Of...

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent across various industries, one industry that is not often included in the AI discussion in the construction industry. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Patrick Scarpati, Director of Construction Technology and Innovation for the Associated Builders and Contractors, joins host Peter List to discuss ABC’s new AI Resource Guide, the current uses of AI, as well as where AI may be headed. As an added bonus: The outro for this episode...

Only months after the State of California required fast-food operators to raise the minimum wage from $16 to $20 per hour, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) wants the minimum wage raised again. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Tom Manzo, President of the California Business & Industrial Alliance joins host Peter List to discuss how unions are negatively impacting the state and driving businesses out. * California fast-food workers want another minimum wage...

Within three weeks earlier this Spring, employees of a Trader Joe’s store in Chicago turned around an ambush election by Trader Joe’s United. They did so without help from their employer, and to the shock and dismay of the union’s leaders. Long-time Trader Joe’s employees, Nikki and Jose, explain what happened before and during the short window before their NLRB election. Related: * Labor Relations Radio, E102—Unionized Trader Joe's Employees Explain the Efforts to Decertify Trader Joe's...

Returning guest Nick Kalm, CEO of Reputation Partners, rejoins the podcast to discuss the month’s political events and try to figure out which team has the advantage going into November. Prior Labor Relations Radio Episodes with Nick Kalm: * Labor Relations Radio, Ep. 9—Reputation Partners' CEO Nick Kalm On Attacks On Company Brands * Labor Relations Radio, Ep. 44—Guest Nick Kalm On Why The Mid-Term's 'Red Wave' Was Barely A Ripple * Labor Relations Radio, Ep. 45—Guests Nick Kalm and Haley...

As unions have become more reliant on government largesse over the last few decades, putting their future fortunes into the hands of the government, the question of whether the Constitution’s First Amendment and its Freedom of Association apply to the concept of Exclusive Representation is called into question. In this episode, labor attorney Alex MacDonald, from Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute shares some of the details of his paper: Political Unions, Free Speech, and the Death of...

Since October 7th, there has been a tremendous and overt rise of anti-semitism on college campuses across the U.S. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Glenn Taubman from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation joins host Peter List to share what the Foundation is doing to assist and protect grad students, as well as others, against the onslaught of antisemitism in their unions. Related: * To contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, go here. * U.S. House...

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses political issues currently going on in the U.S. and the State of California If political topics trigger you, please do not listen to this episode. With political issues occupying the national conversation since President Joe Biden’s debate debacle, Will Swaim, president of the California Policy Center and co-host of National Review’s Radio Free California podcast, joins host Peter List to discuss current affairs and the potential replacement of Joe...

With last week’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 40-year precedent called the Chevron Doctrine (or Deference). This decision may have significant impact concerning how the National Labor Relations Board (and other federal agencies) conduct themselves moving forward. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, labor attorney Jim Paretti, Jr., a shareholder with the law firm Littler Mendelson, returns to the podcast to discuss what the...

Megann McManus (bio here) is a full-service traditional labor attorney at the law firm Husch Blackwell. Before becoming a lawyer, Megann majored in theatre and then worked for Actors’ Equity Association as a director in the human resources department. There, she gained a unique and valuable perspective as a manager for a labor union, and she quickly realized that the collective bargaining and contract management process happening behind the scenes was even more interesting than the drama on...

Constitutional attorney Jeffrey Schwab from the Liberty Justice Center joins Labor Relations Radio to discuss a newly-filed case that, if successful, may open governments up to being “joint employers” with certain private-sector employers. Schwab, who is not a labor attorney, served as counsel for Mark Janus in Janus v. AFSCME, the landmark case in which the United States Supreme Court found that public employees could not be compelled to pay money to a union without their consent. In this...

Internationally recognized leadership consultant and CEO of the Parone Group, Irma Parone, joins the podcast to discuss her problem-solving techniques, as well as her book WINX: The Problem-Solving Model to Win Exponentially with Customers, Employees, & Your Bottom Line and her new book WINX for Employees: The Problem-Solving Model to Unlock Workplace Success. * To read more about Ms. Parone, view her bio here, or follow her on LinkedIn here. * To contact Ms. Parone, visit the Parone...

On this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Cary Burke, a labor attorney with Seyfarth Shaw returns to discuss a number of topics, including a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge’s recent decision that a manager visiting an employee’s LinkedIn profile was ‘surveillance,’ the potential for the NLRB to issue a Cemex Bargaining Order at Mercedes-Benz in Alabama, as well as a number of other potential NLRB actions we might expect in the months ahead. Follow Cary Burke on...

Recently, an administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled that Amazon CEO Andy Jassey’s answers to interview questions violated the National Labor Relations Act. Unless the ALJ's decision regarding Jassey's seemingly innocuous statements made during various interviews in 2022 (included in this episode) is overturned, which is unlikely to happen soon, all employers' speech during union-organizing campaigns may be significantly impacted. [See the full ALJ decision here.] In this joint episode of Labor...