Left of Boom Show Archives | Labor Relations News and Analysis

Managing A Union Shop Between Contracts

Posted by Michael VanDervort | Aug 17, 2026 | Bargaining/Negotiations, Fractional Labor Relations, Fractional LR, Frontline Supervisors, Labor Relations Ink, Labor Relations Insight, Leadership, Left of Boom Show, Podcast, Trending, Unionized Company

Union contracts don’t fall apart at the bargaining table. They erode one supervisor decision at a time, and fixing that starts long before the next negotiation.

Managing During Status Quo: The First 90 Days After A Union Election

Posted by Michael VanDervort | Aug 6, 2026 | Bargaining/Negotiations, Labor Relations Ink, Labor Relations Insight, Left of Boom Show, Legal, Managing During Status Quo Series: Bargaining for a First Contract, Next 52 Weeks, NLRB, status quo, Trending, Uncategorized, Unionized Company

Once a union is certified, employers owe a duty to bargain and can’t make unilateral changes, a status quo period most management teams are navigating for the first time.

Positive Employee Relations: Every Workplace Has A Next 52 Weeks.

Posted by Michael VanDervort | Jul 29, 2026 | Culture, EXWP, Frontline Supervisors, Labor Relations Ink, Labor Relations Insight, Leadership, Leadership, Left of Boom Show, Next 52 Weeks, Next 52 Weeks Series, Podcast, positive employee relations, Trending

Build a positive employee relations strategy with LRI’s free Next 52 Weeks video series covering frontline leadership, workplace culture, employee engagement, and union organizing risk.

Hiring and Onboarding After a Union Election

Posted by Michael VanDervort | May 12, 2026 | Culture, Frontline Supervisors, Labor Relations Ink, Labor Relations Insight, Leadership, Next 52 Weeks

Winning a union election is not the end of the process. It is the beginning of a more difficult one, healing the rifts in your culture that develop during a union election.