No industry is immune to the organizing petition catch-up:
Since the government reopened three weeks ago, 250+ union petition filings (and nearly 1000 ULP charges) have surfaced from the NLRB. Some of these petitions feature notably large units, including an out-of-the-gate example of 900 museum workers from NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The voluminous approach continues this week with no industry left untouched, as shown by these highlights:
- Almost 500 workers at the Environmental Defense Fund petitioned to join News Guild-CWA while forming the EDF Together union.
- 1,300+ National Park Service workers from 24 parks will petition to join the National Treasury Employees Union.
- Workers from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, OH petitioned at eight locations to join UFCW.
- Doctors at MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Washington petitioned at three locations to join the Union of American Physicians and Dentists-AFSCME.
Seriously, an NLRB quorum is coming:
NLRB nominee/Boeing chief counsel Scott Mayer’s rollercoaster ride took a more productive turn this week.
Previously, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) blocked Mayer from being advanced to a full Senate vote. Then Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) did the same while protesting Gwynne Wilcox’s firing from the Board.
On Wednesday, Mayer cleared a necessary Senate HELP Committee hurdle, so he’ll get that full Senate vote along with fellow board nominee James Murphy and Crystal Carey, who’s poised to be the next general counsel.
Yes, a quorum is coming. The Board has lacked one nearly all year, and Democrat David Prouty’s term will only last until next August 27. Then the game might start over again, but ideally, another Trump nominee will pass muster before that happens because, sure, a frozen Board isn’t good for unions, but it’s also no comfort for employers seeking guidance.
Union collusion with the USPS called out by an ALJ:
Matt Bruenig’s NLRB Edge highlighted a corruption-filled case involving Terry Daniels, a Letter Carriers Union shop steward who, according to an ALJ’s determination, was unlawfully disciplined by the USPS. The ALJ further found that union President Dave Negrotti and USPS management colluded in their illegal treatment of Daniels, who had challenged Negrotti during a presidential run. A coincidence? Surely not.
Following the NLRB’s findings that both the union and USPS committed ULPs against Daniels, the ALJ agreed that Daniels was singled out for retaliatory discipline and suspended while Negrotti “received favorable treatment including a full-time paid union position, no time clock requirements, and extensive overtime totaling $176,000 annually.” Yikes.
An outburst takes a backseat to protected concerted activity:
As Barnes & Thornburg points out, this next case provides a lesson for both union and non-union employers on how the NLRB and federal courts are viewing less-than-stellar worker conduct in the presence of protected activity.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with an NLRB ruling that a security company’s weapons instructor was illegally fired over a profane outburst about a company policy. The worker dropped a “BS” while raising several concerns, including ricocheting bullets at a firing range. The Fourth Circuit’s opinion noted that some workers had been struck by bullet fragments, and the fired instructor had expressed frustrations during a management meeting.
The employer unsuccessfully argued that the instructor was exempt from NLRA protections as a manager. Whereas the instructor maintained that his complaints were protected activity. Both the federal court and Board agreed, and the termination was determined to be unlawful retaliation.
Never a dull moment for the AI races:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s has reportedly, according to The Information, told workers to focus on improving ChatGPT during what he calls a “critical time” of increasingly stiff competition from Google and Anthropic’s AI models.
Altman’s concern has even led him to proclaim a “code red” over OpenAI’s “significant cash burn,” which makes a Wall Street Journal report look like a real head scratcher due to its account of Altman mulling over a collaboration with a rocket maker, Stoke Space, to install data centers (?) in space. That report also indicates that Altman wants to compete against the Elon Musk-led SpaceX. Musk, of course, has his own AI platform, Grok.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s AI quest is facing a significant retooling. That comes from Bloomberg’s reporting about how the underperforming Metaverse, which has been plagued with security concerns, will likely be setting aside the VR headsets and other products from “leaky bucket” Reality Labs in favor of launching Meta’s AI glasses.
Those glasses probably won’t be worn on OpenAI space voyages. After all, the AI billionaire rivalries are truly alive and well.
