Unions

A labor union is an organization of employees that is created for the purpose of dealing with employers concerning employee-employer relations. Labor unions have a significant impact on employees, businesses, and even the political system. Knowing about what labor unions are and their history will help you understand them and the actions they take in the business and political world. This is FindLaw’s collection of Union articles, part of the Human Resources section of the Corporate Counsel Center. Law articles in this archive are predominantly written by lawyers for a professional audience seeking business solutions to legal issues. Start your free research with FindLaw.

Human Resources

Unions Articles

The Benefits and Potential Risks of Using Leased Workers

For a start-up business, as for an established business, the prospect of retaining leased workers holds both benefits and risks. A leased worker is an individual who provides services for a business, but who is an employee of, and is paid by, a ...
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Take Action to Avoid OT Lawsuits

In the 2004 calendar year, 743 collective lawsuits – that is, lawsuits brought on behalf of more than one plaintiff – were filed in federal district courts alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This number is up from just 79 ...
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Professional Employer Organizations and the National Labor Relations Act

A discussion of the joint employer doctrine as it affects Professional Employer Organizations and their clients for purposes of vicarious liability, bargaining obligations, and vunerability to secondary boycotts. The full text of this article is ...
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Overtime Laws

In case you haven't noticed, the laws relating to overtime pay are complicated and confusing. The Industrial Welfare Commission has now issued an Interim Wage Order which makes the following clarifications: It makes it clear there is no ...
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Locke v. Karass: Should the Court Overrule Lehnert’s Test For Determining Whether Union Expenditures Are Related to Collective Bargaining?

In the fall 2008 term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in Locke v. Karass, a case of more potential significance than suggested by the narrow question presented: whether, consistent with the First Amendment, the State may compel non-member ...
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Little-Known Facts About the NLRA

The NLRA protects employees' right to engage in 'concerted activities' for self-organization or for 'mutal aid or protection.' Several recent cases confirm that even employees who are not representd by a union or involved in any union activity are ...
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Fraud in the Execution Voids Collective Bargaining Agreement

Plaintiff union pension funds ("Funds") sued Nyeholt Steel ("Nyeholt"), a 15-employee steel fabricator and erector, for approximately $500,000 in delinquent fringe benefit contributions. Nyeholt had twice signed a blanket agreement purporting to ...
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Employers Can Be Bound by Unsigned Collective Bargaining Agreements

The Alice-in-Wonderland world of contemporary employment law continually surprises employers. Assume, for example, you are a unionized employer with a signed labor agreement. That contract expires. You do not sign two successive three-year contracts ...
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