When faced with potential employee organizing activity, some employers react by trying to address worker grievances through alternatives to union representation. Sometimes these approaches involve establishing an internal...more
In Corporation of the City of Calgary v Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 583, 2023 CanLII 20867 (AB GAA), Arbitrator James T. Casey dismissed the union’s grievance of an employee’s job termination, finding that his off-duty...more
The Israeli National Labor Court has issued a new ruling that expands the responsibilities of employers who use contractors in specific fields of services (cleaning, guarding, and security). The ruling ensures employers’...more
Employers: Don’t throw out your open-door policy just because your employees are unionizing. That’s the message the National Labor Relations Board shared this week in cautioning companies against telling their employees...more
On April 27, 2022, in Canada Post Corporation v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (Canada Post), Arbitrator Thomas Joliffe, Q.C. dismissed a union grievance disputing that the unilateral imposition of a mandatory vaccination...more
On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union’s grievance respecting...more
In United Utility Workers’ Association of Canada v Dataco Utility Services Ltd., 2022 CanLII 13414 (AB GAA), Arbitrator John Moreau, Q.C., dismissed 11 grievances filed on behalf of 11 service technicians (Grievors) of Dataco...more
Since we last wrote on the topic of COVID-19 vaccination policies, another vaccination policy was upheld at arbitration, this time, requiring employees to receive a third “booster” shot against COVID-19. ...more
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175, the arbitrator found that a mandatory vaccination policy requiring unvaccinated unionized employees to be placed on unpaid...more
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175 (Bunge), Arbitrator Robert J. Herman dismissed a union grievance challenging the employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination...more
On November 19, 2021, in Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v. Toronto Transit Commission and National Organized Workers Union v. Sinai Health System, 2021 ONSC 7658 (TTC/Sinai Decision), the Ontario Superior Court...more
The Sixth Circuit, in a split decision, held that a dispute between a union and an employer regarding retiree healthcare benefits was not arbitrable because the issue of retiree healthcare benefits was not encompassed within...more
On July 29, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Second Circuit”) handed down what amounts to a significant win for the collectively-bargained dispute-resolution process set forth in the...more
On May 21, 2020, the NLRB issued a decision in Altura Communication Solutions, LLC. The case asked the Board to consider whether a series of broad proposals made by the employer during collective bargaining amounted to bad...more
Turning a blind eye – one-off act not a PCP - In Ishola v Transport for London the Court of Appeal confirmed that it was not a provision, criterion or practice to require an employee to return to work before a proper...more
The National Labor Relations Board recently overturned a decision issued in 2014 and returned to its time-honored standard for post-arbitral deferral in unfair labor practice cases alleging discipline or discharge in...more
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed a significant victory to New York’s home care industry. In Abdullayeva v. Attending Home Care Services, the appellate court reversed a lower court’s...more
The alternative dispute resolution landscape continues to evolve for employers with unionized workforces. Anheuser-Busch, LCC, 367 NLRB 123 (May 22, 2019), is the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) latest decision on the...more
A grievance is defined as “a real or imagined wrong or other cause for complaint or protest.” In the employment process, grievances would likely be limited to workplace issues....more
National Labor Relations Board’s field office staff have been directed to prosecute a broader array of cases against unions that engage in negligent behavior toward their members, according to an internal memorandum obtained...more
Employers subject to collective bargaining relationships often complain about the time they spend responding to objectively meritless grievances. ...more
North Carolina Supreme Court recognizes a new claim in favor of governmental employees pursuant to the North Carolina Constitution. The North Carolina Supreme Court has recognized a new right pursuant to Article I, Section...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Heeding some lessons from HBO’s “Silicon Valley” can help employers avoid mistakes related to potential hostile work environments and discrimination that might occur in a startup environment. In a...more
The NLRB recently reversed 37 years of precedent in deciding to adopt a new standard for a union’s access to witness statements taken in pre-grievance arbitration employer investigations. For years, under the blanket...more
In Hershaw v Sheffield City Council UKEAT/0033/14/BA, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered whether a grievance outcome letter from an HR consultant setting out better terms of pay for the aggrieved employees was...more