New legal argument may increase frequency of intermittent strikes: 5 things to know

The National Labor Relations Board's top lawyer wants the agency to consider adopting a new legal argument that may encourage unionized employees to be more aggressive in calling intermittent strikes, according to Bloomberg BNA's Daily Labor Report.

Here are five things to know about the issue.

1. NLRB General Counsel Richard F. Griffin wants the agency to "clarify" the rights of unionized employees, such as those at hospitals. Specifically, the attorney wants his agency to make it clear that federal law allows employees to engage in intermittent strikes — when employees strike, return to work, and strike again, — even if repeatedly striking over a labor dispute is harmful to an employer's business, according to the article.

2. While unions already conduct these intermittent strikes to pressure employers, the NLRB general counsel and lawyers said uncertainty about legal protections for striking employees has kept unions from being even more aggressive with the intermittent strike tactic, according to the report.

3. Mr. Griffin has provided agency lawyers with a model brief aimed at convincing members of the NLRB to adopt the new legal argument, according to the report.

4. Once the model brief is filed, the general counsel's attorneys will present Mr. Griffin's proposal, which argues multiple strikes against an employer should be protected under the National Labor Relations Act if "(1) they involve a complete cessation of work, and are not so brief or infrequent that they are tantamount to work slowdowns; (2) they are not designed to impose permanent conditions of work, but rather are designed to exert economic pressure; and (3) the employer is made aware of the employees' purpose in striking."

5. The report notes, however, that the proposal outlined in the model brief may not be taken up by the board for months, since litigating the issue would require an appropriate case involving the issue to reach the NLRB.

 

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