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Union Election Rules Under Fire: Post-Chevron Courts May Rewrite the Playbook

In a landmark 2024 ruling, Loper Bright effectively dismantled the doctrine of Chevron deference, which had required courts to uphold reasonable agency interpretations of unclear statutes. Under post-Chevron review, courts must now independently interpret legal questions—even in contexts like agency rulemaking and precedent-adopting decisions. This absent deference places the NLRB under much stricter scrutiny when […]

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Trump’s NLRB Power Move: New Picks Could Reshape Labor Law for Years

In January 2025, President Trump made history by becoming the first president since 1935 to remove an NLRB member—Democrat Gwynne Wilcox—over alleged performance issues, plunging the Board below its three-member quorum threshold. This decision halted hundreds of cases, leaving core labor protections, from unfair labor practice awards to union election rulings, in limbo. The Nominations

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NLRB Declares War on Secret Recordings: What It Means for Labor Talks

On June 25, 2025, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen issued GC Memorandum 25‑07, declaring that secretly recording collective bargaining sessions constitutes a per se violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under Section 8(d) of the NLRA, both employers and unions have a statutory duty to bargain in good faith—a duty that Cowen argues is fundamentally undermined by clandestine

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Data Privacy on Trial: Why Unions Are Fighting DOGE’s Access to Social Security Records

In early March, a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction precluding Elon Musk‑backed “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) from accessing Social Security Administration (SSA) data—blocking access to wage records, Social Security numbers, and related personal information. Unions Warn of Privacy Risks A coalition of labor unions (AFGE, SEIU, AFSCME) along with the Alliance

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NLRB Backs Union in Sixth Circuit Dispute Over Employer Lockout

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is urging the Sixth Circuit to uphold a key decision against Rieth-Riley Construction Co., which was found to have violated federal labor law by locking out unionized workers to pressure their union into multiemployer bargaining. In its July 2025 brief, the NLRB defended its prior ruling, asserting that the

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Supreme Court Clears Path for Trump-Era Federal Layoffs and Restructuring

On July 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted an injunction that had blocked the Trump administration from implementing sweeping layoffs and reorganizations across multiple federal agencies. The decision, issued in a brief unsigned order, allows the administration to proceed with cost-cutting and structural changes that could affect tens of thousands of federal workers. While

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Supreme Court to Review Calculations of Union Pension Fund Withdrawal Liability

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could significantly reshape how pension plans calculate an employer’s financial responsibility when withdrawing from a multiemployer pension fund. In M & K Employee Solutions, LLC v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund, the justices will determine whether it is lawful for pension plans

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Judge Stops Attempt to Dismantle Job Corps Program, Citing Congressional Authority

In another legal setback for the Trump administration’s workforce agenda, a federal judge in New York has issued a nationwide injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Labor from suspending operations at most Job Corps centers across the country. The ruling, delivered by U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, underscores the judiciary’s role in curbing executive actions

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GOP Introduces Bill That Would Affect Unions and DEI

The bill reintroduces GOP-backed secret-ballot representation votes, letting employees choose union representation privately. It also allows workers in right to work states to fully opt out of union representation. It includes provisions to prohibit diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in union contracts—part of a growing trend by Republicans to scale back DEI in both

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D.C. Federal Court Upholds Injunction Against Trump-Era Executive Order Targeting Federal Unions

In a significant development for federal labor rights, a D.C. federal judge has declined to pause an injunction that blocks the State Department from enforcing a Trump-era executive order designed to curtail the collective bargaining rights of federal workers. The decision is a critical moment in a broader legal battle over the limits of executive

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