Strike Involving 150 Million Indian Workers

This post is intended more for this blog’s American, rather than Indian, readers. The vitriol that has accompanied some recent posts related to Prime Minister Modi reflects political tensions that are being expressed very concretely, if complexly, in Indian daily life. Last week, a major strike occurred in India. It involved about 150 million workers…

For a Union, Passivity Equates to a Loss of Collective Bargaining Rights

Yesterday’s NLRB’s decision on the collective-bargaining rights of employees hired through “temp” agencies has meant that very little attention has been paid to a decision handed down yesterday by an NLRB Administrative Law Judge. Although the change in how contingent employees are defined has potentially broad direct ramifications and signals an important, fundamental shift in…

Follow-Up on Today’s NLRB Ruling

In its daily “Sentences” newsletter, Vox has provided the following list of items on today’s NLRB ruling: –The National Labor Relations Board ruled today that a business that uses a contractor to provide workers — but has control over hiring, firing and other HR decisions — can be considered a “joint employer” even if it…

A Major Ruling from the NLRB

The following is an excerpt from breaking news report from The Hill written by by Tim Devaney: “The National Labor Relations Board on Thursday handed down one of the biggest decisions of the Obama presidency, ruling that companies can be held equally responsible for labor violations committed by their contractors. “At issue is whether waste management firm…

Recognizing the Limited Scope of the NLRB’s Decision in Northwestern University

Earlier this week, on August 17, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a decision refusing to assert jurisdiction in the case of the Northwestern University grant-in-aid scholarship football players’ petition for an election seeking union representation. While this is a disappointment to those hoping that the Board would uphold the Regional Director’s ruling finding…

Popularity of Unions on the Rise

The American Prospect, a liberal periodical, distributes a weekly e-newsletter, The Labor Prospect, highlighting the best reporting and latest developments in the labor movement.  The latest missive reports, among other stories, that “more and more Americans are recognizing that unions are a crucial component in the workplace, according to a new Gallup poll. Rising five percentage points…

Another Thing That I Wish That I Had Said

Several weeks ago, I was at a meeting for the leaders of “We Are Ohio” member and allied groups in southwestern Ohio, and one of the featured speakers asked the following rhetorical question about the corporate-funded “right to work” campaigns: “When was the last time that you heard of corporations spending millions of dollars to…