Category Archives: House of Representatives

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Sen. Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Pocan (D-WI) Introduce Bill To Facilitate Union Organizing — Includes Card Check And A Lot More

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), joined by a number of union leaders and Democratic lawmakers, yesterday announced introduction of the “Workplace Democracy Act” in the Senate. The bill recycles a number of the failed legislative and administrative efforts of the past decade or so to reform labor law to facilitate union organizing, including the Employee Free… Continue Reading

House of Representatives Passes Bill To Restore Recognition Of Tribal Sovereignty In Labor Law Enforcement

By McGuireWoods LLP on January 25, 2018 Posted in Filibuster, House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRA, Senate, Unions

Earlier this month, a bipartisan 239-173 majority of the House of Representatives passed the text of the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act (H.R. 986) as an amendment to a Senate bill amending a 2010 law regarding Apache tribal water rights (S. 140). The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act would amend the National Labor Relations Act to expressly clarify… Continue Reading

Labor Relations Today Issues ‘Labor Law 2017: Year in Review’

By McGuireWoods LLP on January 12, 2018 Posted in Department of Labor, Executive Orders, Expedited Elections, Federal Court Litigation, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Joint Employer, Legislative Strategy, Micro Units, MLA Media, Negotiations, NLRB Administration, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Obama Board Reversal, Persuader Rules, Presidential Appointments, Representation Elections, Right to Work, SCOTUS, Senate, Social Media, Unfair Labor Practices, Unions, White House, Workplace Rules

McGuireWoods labor attorneys and the editors of Labor Relations Today are pleased to announce the publication of Labor Relations 2017: Year in Review. As a new administration took the reins for the first time in eight years, employers, employees, unions, labor lawyers and observers alike all wondered what to expect from President Donald J. Trump. Would he govern much… Continue Reading

House Committee On Education And The Workforce Approves Three Bills To Amend National Labor Relations Act

By McGuireWoods LLP on July 1, 2017 Posted in Expedited Elections, House of Representatives, Legislation, Micro Units, NLRA, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Obama Board Reversal, Representation Elections, Senate

Following a June 14, 2017 subcommittee hearing, and a June 27, 2017 mark-up, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has approved the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2017 (H.R. 986), the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 2776), and the Employee Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 2775). All three bills were approved by a… Continue Reading

Senate Introduces Own Version Of Bill To Restore National Labor Relations Board Election Procedures

By McGuireWoods LLP on June 19, 2017 Posted in Expedited Elections, House of Representatives, Legislation, Micro Units, NLRA, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Obama Board Reversal, Senate

On Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced introduction of The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (S. 1350): A bill to amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to the timing of elections and pre-election hearings and the identification of pre-election issues, and to require that lists of employee eligible to vote in organizing elections… Continue Reading

Republican Lawmakers Introduce Three House Bills To Roll Back National Labor Relations Board Quickie Election Rules

By McGuireWoods LLP on June 8, 2017 Posted in House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRB Rule-Making, Obama Board Reversal, Representation Elections

A trio of bills has been introduced in the House of Representatives to amend the National Labor Relations Act in an effort to roll back some of the more aggressive changes to the union representation election process implemented by the Obama Board. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 2776), Employee Privacy Protection Act (H.R.… Continue Reading

Senate Joins House in Passing CRA Resolution to Invalidate Contractor Blacklisting Rules

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 6, 2017 Posted in Executive Orders, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Senate, White House

On March 6, 2017, by a party-line vote of 49-48, the United States Senate passed a resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 37) pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, to preclude enforcement of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s final rule implementing President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order. As outlined in greater detail in earlier… Continue Reading

House of Representatives Passes CRA Resolution To Invalidate Enjoined Contractor Blacklisting Rule

By McGuireWoods LLP on February 5, 2017 Posted in Department of Labor, Executive Orders, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Legislation, Senate, White House

On February 2, 2017, the House of Representatives passed a resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 37) pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, to preclude enforcement of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council’s final rule implementing President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order. As outlined in greater detail in earlier posts, the rule would require offerors… Continue Reading

Congressional Labor Committees Announce Changes

By McGuireWoods LLP on January 15, 2017 Posted in House of Representatives, Senate

In early January, Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced the addition of freshman Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Sen. Alexander said: I welcome Sen. Young to our committee and look forward to working with him on reforming our health care system to give Americans more choices of… Continue Reading

Labor Relations Today Issues ‘Labor Law 2016: Year in Review’

By McGuireWoods LLP on January 9, 2017 Posted in Alternative Labor Law Reform, Department of Labor, Division of Advice, Executive Orders, Expedited Elections, Federal Court Litigation, Government Contracting, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Joint Employer, Legislation, MLA Media, Negotiations, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Administration, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Persuader Rules, Presidential Appointments, Remedies, Representation Elections, Right to Work, SCOTUS, Senate, Social Media, State/Local Issues, Unfair Labor Practices, Unions, White House, Workplace Rules

McGuireWoods labor attorneys and the editors of Labor Relations Today are pleased to announce the publication of Labor Relations 2016: Year in Review. In the final year of his two-term tenure, President Barack Obama’s National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor continued their double-barreled efforts to remake labor law to benefit labor unions. Throughout the year, the agencies… Continue Reading

Labor Relations Today Issues ‘Labor Law 2015: Year in Review’

By McGuireWoods LLP on January 19, 2016 Posted in Alternative Labor Law Reform, Beyond EFCA: Labor's Agenda, Bush Board Reversal, Card Check, Department of Labor, Executive Orders, Expedited Elections, Federal Court Litigation, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Joint Employer, Legislation, Micro Units, Negotiations, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Administration, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Remedies, Representation Elections, SCOTUS, Senate, Social Media, Unfair Labor Practices, Unions, White House

McGuireWoods labor attorneys and the editors of Labor Relations Today are pleased to announce the publication of Labor Law 2015: A Year In Review. For most of 2015, the National Labor Relations Board consisted of five members and the general counsel — all Senate-confirmed. This Board and the White House continued aggressive efforts to overhaul traditional labor law administratively,… Continue Reading

House Bill Aims To Reverse NLRB’s Expanded “Joint Employer” Definition

By McGuireWoods LLP on October 29, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, Joint Employer, Legislation, NLRA, NLRB

On October 28, 2015, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce met to mark up the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act (H.R. 3459)—a bill designed to curtail the National Labor Relations Board’s recent expansion of “joint employer” under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). As previously discussed, the NLRB’s Browning Ferris Industries decision dramatically… Continue Reading

Senator Sanders (I/D-VT) Re-Introduces Employee Free Choice Act

By McGuireWoods LLP on October 8, 2015 Posted in Card Check, EFCA, House of Representatives, Interest Arbitration, Legislation, NLRA, Remedies, Representation Elections, Senate, White House

At a press conference on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 6, 2015, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced that he and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) would introduce the “Workplace Democracy Act” (S. 2142, H.R. 3690). This bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to facilitate union organizing by requiring certification based on “card check” —… Continue Reading

More About the Protecting American Jobs Act (S. 2084)

By McGuireWoods LLP on October 1, 2015 Posted in Federal Court Litigation, House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Administration, NLRB Rule-Making, Senate

As noted yesterday, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has introduced a bill to curtail the authority of the National Labor Relations Board. The Protecting American Jobs Act (S. 2084) — co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) — is analogous to a House bill (H.R. 1893) introduced earlier in 2015, now with seventy… Continue Reading

GOP House Committee Chairpersons Ask DOL and FAR Council to Withdraw Proposed Blacklisting Regs

By McGuireWoods LLP on July 21, 2015 Posted in Department of Labor, Executive Orders, Government Contracting, House of Representatives

On May 28, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council proposed regulatory amendments and guidance to implement the President’s Executive Order 13673, entitled “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.” What the Order and proposed regulations subject government contractors to a broad new set of record-keeping, reporting and compliance requirements. Failure to fulfill these… Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Panel Criticizes NLRB Jurisdiction Over Indian Tribes, But Affirms Exercise

By McGuireWoods LLP on July 6, 2015 Posted in Federal Court Litigation, House of Representatives, NLRA, NLRB, Senate

When Congressional Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-TN) commenced a hearing last month on the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015 (H.R. 511), he explained: The subjective nature of the [NLRB]’s process for determining jurisdiction has also produced a mess of legal confusion. Years of litigation have produced inconsistent and misguided board decisions, compounding the uncertainty… Continue Reading

The Road Ahead: Top 10 Labor Issues to Watch in the Back Half of 2015

By McGuireWoods LLP on June 30, 2015 Posted in Amici Briefs, Department of Labor, Executive Orders, Expedited Elections, Federal Court Litigation, Government Contracting, Government Contracts, House of Representatives, Legislation, Micro Units, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Decisions, NLRB Rule-Making, Persuader Rules, Representation Elections, Senate, State/Local Issues

1. Will the Courts Uphold the New Expedited Election Rules? The National Labor Relation Board’s new expedited election rules took effect on April 14, 2015, but not before two lawsuits could be filed seeking to invalidate them in January 2015. The first lawsuit was filed by business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in… Continue Reading

House, Senate Propose NLRB Budget Cuts and Policy Limitations

By McGuireWoods LLP on June 24, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Rule-Making, Senate

The House and Senate appropriations committees both advanced bills on June 17 and June 23, respectively, seeking to slash the National Labor Relations Board’s budget. The House’s bill seeks a 27 percent reduction, taking the NLRB’s current budget of $274 million down to $200 million. Meanwhile, the Senate bill proposes a ten percent reduction of… Continue Reading

House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act to Exclude Indian Government Employers From NLRA

By McGuireWoods LLP on June 18, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRA, NLRB, State/Local Issues

A subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 on H.R. 511, “The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act of 2015.” The bill, which has a counterpart, S. 248, in the Senate, would amend the National Labor Relations Act to expressly exclude tribal employers from the Act’s definition… Continue Reading

President Vetoes GOP Attempt To Nix Quickie Election Rules

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 31, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRA, NLRB, Quick Hits, Representation Elections, Senate, Unions, White House

In an unsurprising move, earlier today President Obama vetoed a measure put forward by House and Senate Republicans under the auspices of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would have invalidated the National Labor Relations Board’s “quickie election” procedures. The rules, set to take effect in about two weeks, could shrink the period from the… Continue Reading

Chamber Fires Another Round At Quickie Election Rules

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 27, 2015 Posted in Federal Court Litigation, House of Representatives, NLRA, NLRB, NLRB Rule-Making, Quick Hits, Representation Elections, Senate, Unions, White House

This week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups filed a Motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the National Labor Relations Board’s “quickie election” rules should be invalidated. The rules, which were published at the end of last year in the Federal Register, would allow a… Continue Reading

Chairman Pearce Testifies Before House

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 24, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, NLRA, NLRB, Quick Hits

Yesterday, National Labor Relations Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce was called to testify at a House of Representatives budget hearing. Chairman Pearce’s testimony covered a wide range of topics, beginning with the Board’s backlog of cases resulting from the Supreme Court’s invalidation of President Obama’s 2012 recess appointments to the Board. Chairman Pearce noted that… Continue Reading

House Passes Measure Disapproving of Quickie Election Procedures

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 19, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, Legislation, NLRA, NLRB, Quick Hits, Representation Elections, Senate, Unions, White House

As expected, the U.S. House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead and passed a measure under the auspices of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that expresses disapproval of the National Labor Relations Board’s new “quickie election” procedures. Among other radical changes made by the Board, the “quickie election” procedures would allow a labor union to hold… Continue Reading

House Takes Up Ambush Election Disapproval Measure

By McGuireWoods LLP on March 17, 2015 Posted in House of Representatives, NLRA, NLRB, Quick Hits, Representation Elections, Unions

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently debating a resolution brought under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would express its disapproval of the National Labor Relations Board’s new “quickie election” procedures. The quickie election rules, set to go into effect next month, could allow a labor union to hold an election in as little… Continue Reading