The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935,the NLRB has the authority to supervise elections for labor union representation and to investigate and remedy unfair labor practices. Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity.
The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) is an independent agency of the United States government that governs labor relations between the federal government and its employees.
Inflatable rats,Union rats,or Scabby rats,are giant inflatables in the shape of cartoon rats,commonly used in the United States by protesting or striking trade unions. They serve as a sign of opposition against employers or nonunion contractors and are intended to call public attention to companies employing nonunion labor or engaging in union-busting activities.
Peter N. Kirsanow is a partner with the law firm of Benesch,Friedlander,Coplan &Aronoff,working within its Labor &Employment Practice Group in Cleveland,Ohio. He is a black civil-rights commissioner and a member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights,serving his fourth consecutive 6-year term,which he was reappointed to by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in December 2019. On January 20,2025,he was designated chairperson of the commission. He is the longest-serving member among the current commission. He was previously a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from January 2006 to January 2008.
Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson is an American lawyer and jurist who is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on February 25,2022,and confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn into office that same year. She is the first black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.
Harold Craig Becker,known professionally as Craig Becker,is an American labor attorney,a former member of the National Labor Relations Board,and currently the Senior Counsel to the AFL–CIO.
Amy Sauber Berman Jackson is an American attorney and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
Peter Barr Robb is an American lawyer who was the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He was appointed to the position by President Donald Trump. He was fired by President Joe Biden on January 20,2021,after he refused to resign. According to his critics,Robb has advanced pro-business and anti-labor causes both in and out of government.
John F. Ring is a corporate lawyer and a former United States government official. He was a member of the National Labor Relations Board from 2018 to 2022,and was its chair from 2018 to 2021. He was formerly co-chair of the labor and employment law practice at Morgan,Lewis &Bockius,a pro-management law firm,where his practice included representing employers in collective bargaining,labor contracts,multi-employer benefit funds and corporate restructurings.
Joe Biden assumed office as the 46th president of the United States on January 20,2021,and his term ended on January 20,2025. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Sharon Block is an American attorney,government official,labor policy advisor and law professor who served during the Biden administration as the Associate Administrator delegated the duties of the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from January 20,2021,to February 1,2022. During the Obama administration,Block served on the National Labor Relations Board and in the United States Department of Labor and the White House. She currently serves as a professor of practice and the executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School.
Lauren McFerran is an American lawyer and government official who served as a member and chairman of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to serving on the board,she worked as a law clerk,in private practice,and as a labor lawyer for the Senate Committee on Health,Education,Labor,and Pensions.
Ashley Gjøvik is an American program manager and activist who is known for her labor complaints against Apple Inc. Gjøvik was terminated in 2021 by Apple for allegedly leaking confidential intellectual property,which she denied. Gjøvik alleged her firing was retaliation for speaking out against the company.
Gwynne A. Wilcox is an American attorney who is a member and chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.
Susan Tsui Grundmann is an American attorney who has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Joy Silk was a doctrine of the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in effect from 1949 to 1966. The doctrine arose from Joy Silk Mills,Inc.,85 NLRB 1263 (1949). The policy was modified in 1966,then in 1969 replaced by the Gissel doctrine following the Supreme Court case NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co.,Inc. Joy Silk held that "if a union provides evidence that a majority of workers want to unionize",the employer must recognize the union unless they have "good faith doubt" regarding that evidence. Further,"if there's an unfair labor practice,meaning the employer broke the law,then it is presumed that the workers wanted to join a union".
A captive audience meeting is a mandatory meeting during working hours,organized by an employer with the purpose of discouraging employees from organizing or joining a labor union. It is considered a union-busting tactic. Critics allege that captive audience meetings are used to intimidate workers and spread misinformation;employees can be fired for failing to participate in the meeting or for asking questions. Prior to November 2024,in the United States,the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA) broadly permitted captive audience meetings but did not allow them to be held in the final 24 hours prior to a union election. Employers defended the practice as protected free speech;critics viewed the practice as an infringement on workers' rights not to listen.
Sharon Fast Gustafson is an American attorney who served as General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 2019 to 2021.
