Colorado Employment Law Blog

Supreme Court Affirms Arbitration for Union Member Discrimination Claims

By Alyssa Yatsko and Tobie Hazard

A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that provisions of a collective bargaining agreement that clearly and unmistakably require union members to arbitrate age discrimination claims are enforceable as a matter of federal law.  While the decision is unlikely to impact many employers, the ruling is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions finding arbitration to be a legitimate means of resolving employment disputes.  But before for you jump to the conclusion that arbitration is the preferred method for resolving your workplace disputes, consider legislation afoot on Capitol Hill that would ban mandatory arbitration to resolve employment claims.

Supreme Court Affirms Arbitration for Union Member Discrimination Claims

By Alyssa Yatsko and Tobie Hazard

A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that provisions of a collective bargaining agreement that clearly and unmistakably require union members to arbitrate age discrimination claims are enforceable as a matter of federal law.  While the decision is unlikely to impact many employers, the ruling is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions finding arbitration to be a legitimate means of resolving employment disputes.  But before for you jump to the conclusion that arbitration is the preferred method for resolving your workplace disputes, consider legislation afoot on Capitol Hill that would ban mandatory arbitration to resolve employment claims.

The Employee Free Choice Act:

Restoring the Middle Class Dream or Bolstering the Influence of Unions?

By Steven M. Gutierrez and Winter L. Torres of Holland & Hart, LLP

The American labor movement has made significant contributions to the American economy and is rightly credited with helping grow the American middle class and create the most powerful and productive workforce in the world.  Nevertheless, since the early 1980s, the American labor movement has suffered from a longitudinal decline in membership – that is, until recently.

 

On January 25, 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that union membership slightly increased in 2007, up by 311,000 workers to 15.7 million or, as a percentage of the workforce, up by 0.1 percent to 12.1 percent.[1]  In January 2009, the BLS reported that union membership again increased for a second straight year, up by 428,000 workers to 16.1 million or, as a percentage of the workforce, up by 0.3 percent to 12.4 percent..[2]  This trend has at least temporarily halted the 23-year decline in union membership.[3]  Nonetheless, because unionized workers comprised 20.1 percent of the workforce in 1983 – the first year for which comparable data are available – unions still have a long way to go to regain their former prominence in the economy.[4]

 

According to at least one source, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would essentially eliminate secret ballot elections and force a collective bargaining agreement upon employers and employees under certain circumstances, could become law in as little as five months.[5]  But is the true purpose behind EFCA to restore the American middle class and fix the American economy, as its advocates claim, or is it simply to empower politically connected labor unions by swelling their membership rosters?

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[1] Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2007 (Jan. 25, 2008), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/union2_01252008.pdf.

[2] Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2008 (Jan. 28, 2009), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Ben James, EFCA Could Be Law Within 5 Months:  Union Leader, Law360, Mar. 3, 2009, http://employment.law360.com/articles/89606 (last visited Mar. 31, 2009).

The Employee Free Choice Act:

Restoring the Middle Class Dream or Bolstering the Influence of Unions?

By Steven M. Gutierrez and Winter L. Torres of Holland & Hart, LLP

The American labor movement has made significant contributions to the American economy and is rightly credited with helping grow the American middle class and create the most powerful and productive workforce in the world.  Nevertheless, since the early 1980s, the American labor movement has suffered from a longitudinal decline in membership – that is, until recently.

 

On January 25, 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that union membership slightly increased in 2007, up by 311,000 workers to 15.7 million or, as a percentage of the workforce, up by 0.1 percent to 12.1 percent.[1]  In January 2009, the BLS reported that union membership again increased for a second straight year, up by 428,000 workers to 16.1 million or, as a percentage of the workforce, up by 0.3 percent to 12.4 percent..[2]  This trend has at least temporarily halted the 23-year decline in union membership.[3]  Nonetheless, because unionized workers comprised 20.1 percent of the workforce in 1983 – the first year for which comparable data are available – unions still have a long way to go to regain their former prominence in the economy.[4]

 

According to at least one source, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would essentially eliminate secret ballot elections and force a collective bargaining agreement upon employers and employees under certain circumstances, could become law in as little as five months.[5]  But is the true purpose behind EFCA to restore the American middle class and fix the American economy, as its advocates claim, or is it simply to empower politically connected labor unions by swelling their membership rosters?

---

[1] Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2007 (Jan. 25, 2008), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/union2_01252008.pdf.

[2] Press Release, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members in 2008 (Jan. 28, 2009), available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Ben James, EFCA Could Be Law Within 5 Months:  Union Leader, Law360, Mar. 3, 2009, http://employment.law360.com/articles/89606 (last visited Mar. 31, 2009).