Public-sector employers in Florida will want to make certain they are in compliance with new restrictions on non-public safety unions (i.e., unions representing public-sector employees other than police officers,...more
Municipal workers in Colorado won the right to form unions with Colorado’s Collective Bargaining by County Employees Act, which goes into effect in 2023 and provides a significant expansion of collective bargaining rights for...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses a religion-based challenge to a federal-government land transfer and considers whether public-sector employees can obtain refunds of mandatory union fees since deemed unconstitutional. ...more
This past Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted the stay on implementing the Emergency Temporary Standard to Protect Workers from Coronavirus (ETS) issued by the federal...more
On Tuesday, seven elected officials from various local government bodies challenged a recently enacted California state law that prohibits a public employer from “deter[ing] or discourag[ing] public employees from becoming or...more
Five In-Home Supportive Service (“IHSS”) providers filed a class-action lawsuit last month challenging their union’s practice of deducting union dues despite their quitting the union. The workers allege their First Amendment...more
On June 20, 2019, Oregon governor Kate Brown signed House Bill (HB) 2016 into law. The legislation brings sweeping changes for public sector employers and unions in an effort to increase unions’ direct access to represented...more
In Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31, No. 16-1466 (June 27, 2018), the Supreme Court of the United States significantly expanded the rights of nonunion public employees by...more
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partner Steven Hurd and partner Adam Lupion discuss developments from some of the key cases in labor and employment law in 2018. We will discuss notable cases from the United States...more
On August 15, 2018, the New York State Register published the Public Employment Relations Board’s (PERB) notice of emergency adoption and notice of proposed rulemaking. The emergency rule went into effect on July 27, 2018,...more
In Janus v. AFSCME, Counsel 31, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for a State or labor union to require public-sector employees who are not union members to pay fees to the union....more
Public employee unions differ from those representing private sector employees due to constitutional protections afforded to their members and potential members. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1977 that the First...more
On June 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Janus v. American Federal of State, County, and Municipal Employees, holding that the First Amendment does not permit states to require public-sector employees to contribute...more
The decades-long battle over union security faces two important pivot points during the summer of 2018. On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States handed unions a major defeat in the season’s first major fight. ...more
On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in a case that tested the constitutionality of requiring mandatory payment of “fair share” union dues to be paid by non-member public sector...more
As we previously reported, in July 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided to consider the legality of “fair share” fees for public employees....more
Recently the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a matter that could severely impact the status of unions. The dispute will determine whether nonunion employees working in the public sector should have to pay partial union...more
Just last week on February 26th, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Janus v. AFSCME, a case in the Court’s 2017 term with a potential of adversely impacting the viability and influence of public sector unions....more
From Justice Kagan’s observation that a decision in favor of the plaintiff could affect millions of public sector workers to Justice Alito’s surprise at seeing a union brief include an argument that the Constitution...more
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case that has the potential to rock the world of unions that represent public sector employees in Rhode Island and throughout the country. The Court will decide whether state...more
As we previously reported, in July 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal of a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the legality of “fair share” fees for public...more
In January of last year, we noted that the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to end compulsory union dues for California teachers and other public employees. Then in February of last year, Justice Antonin Scalia died. In March...more
For many years, unions representing public employees in a variety of states have continued to require employees to pay union dues even if they have an objection to certain political, lobbying, or other activities the unions...more
On March 29, 2016, in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the Supreme Court issued a one-sentence decision affirming, by a 4-4 vote, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in a case challenging the...more
Public sector union officials and their allies will breathe easier as a challenge to the collection of “agency fees” from non-members was rejected by a deadlocked United States Supreme Court earlier this week. In a per curiam...more