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Season 4, Episode 203

NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo seeks to improve on older precedents

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Andrew Strom

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Andrew Strom OnLabor 

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The America’s Work Force Union Podcast welcomed back Labor Lawyer and OnLabor contributor Andrew Strom, who talked about the changes National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo wants to make to law. Strom outlined issues with several NLRB orders and explained why changes need to be made to them.

Over the years, Strom believes there have been several poor interpretations of labor laws, which led many people to think that labor laws are weak. Strom said the issue is not the language within he labor laws, but how the NLRB has interpreted those laws that set precedence for the rulings. The NLRB has the authority to act in a way that would solve and impact any labor violations it chooses, but the board’s decisions are only orders and are treated like a warning, Strom explained.

About 50 years ago, the NLRB set a precedent that it was “acceptable” for employers not to negotiate until a court order forced them to after recognizing a union. These orders would not be heard for as long as two to three years after the filing. For the last 50 years, the NLRB chose not to hear these cases. Now, Jennifer Abruzzo is fighting to change this, Strom added.

She is also trying to change a 70-year-old labor law precedence, as the board has not made any rulings regarding the legality of sitting through captive audience meetings. Abruzzo argued that the act of free speech does not mean that an employee can be forced to sit through a captive audience meeting. The goal would be not to force employees to sit through the captive audience meetings and not fear retaliation, Strom said.

For more on the NLRB improvements from Strom, press play on the episode above.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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