By WFI Staff
It’s been longstanding practice under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 that workers and employers can openly discuss matters surrounding union representation or organizing. A major part of that law is the “advice exemption” which gives employers the opportunity to seek out crucial legal advice before discussions with employees on union issues.
Leave it to Obama’s (Big) Labor Department to take employer rights away. In 2011, the Department of Labor proposed a regulation that would effectively eliminate the exemption. Now, enter the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline and Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe who are reviving efforts to stop the Labor Department from making some of the most drastic and ill-advised changes to federal labor law in ages. Wrote Kline and Roe in a joint letter to the agency:
“Workers have a right to hear from their employers on important issues surrounding union representation. Yet the Obama administration is engaged in a campaign to silence employers on union matters. A part of that effort is the Labor Department’s attempt to rewrite the long-standing advice exemption. Federal labor law is extremely complicated, and this flawed rule will have a chilling effect on employers who need legal advice before communicating with their employees. Meanwhile, the president’s labor board is committed to an ambush election scheme that will further stifle employer free speech. Both efforts will undermine the ability of workers to make informed decisions about union representation and should be withdrawn.”
The new Labor Department rule creates so much legal confusion that even the American Bar Association could not help but intervene in a scathing letter to the DoL:
“… the Proposed Rule could chill and seriously undermine the confidential client-lawyer relationship. I n addition, by imposing these unfair reporting burdens on both the lawyers and the employer clients they represent, the Proposed Rule could very well discourage many employers from seeking the expert legal representation that they need, thereby effectively denying them their fundamental right to counsel.”
Both Kline and Roe want the DoL to drop the rule immediately. We agree.
This entry was posted in Big Labor Bosses, Congress, Department of Labor, Politics, Unions and tagged advice exemption, american bar association, Big Labor, Department of Labor, federal labor laws, House Education and Workforce Chairman, House Education and Workforce Committee, John Kline, labor department, labor management reporting and disclosure act of 1959, labor rules, labor secretary, Obama Administration, obama white house, Phil Roe, President Obama, union cronies, union lobbyists, Unions. Bookmark the permalink.