Traditional Labor

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has continued its attempts to significantly expand its influence over the American workforce over the past few years, despite the continuous decline in union membership since the 1980s. This expansion has come at great cost to the unwitting non-union employer surprised by a union organizational effort or facing an NLRB charge of interfering with employee rights protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. It has also highlighted the unionized employer’s obligation to bargain with its employees’ representative and to respond to a host of union tactics ranging from information requests to actions before the NLRB to even actual or threatened picketing, strikes, and boycotts.

Lewis Brisbois offers an experienced team of traditional labor practitioners who guide employers through the complexities of the labor-management relationship and help them steer clear of actions with consequences that might negatively impact their ability to compete in their industry for years to come. We understand that circumstances often dictate strategy; we get to know our clients, their businesses, and their goals to craft solutions that are feasible from the boardroom to the front lines of the business. Most importantly, due to our knowledge and experience in employment matters outside of the labor setting, our attorneys are able to counsel your business on the big picture rather than looking at labor and employment issues in a silo.

Unlike many management-side labor practices, we strive first to identify mutually beneficial and productive resolutions to disputes between labor and management. Although we have significant experience in litigating traditional labor matters before the NLRB and in federal courts, we only resort to fully adversarial and litigious tactics when it is clearly in the best interest of our clients, and when we do, we leverage the resources and economies of scale of our national firm to provide our clients with strong, cost-effective defenses. We know that a company’s employees are its most valuable asset. The sole focus of our efforts, whether through litigation or cooperation, is to restore and preserve labor peace so that our clients’ focus can remain on preserving their competitive edge. 

Our traditional labor attorneys have represented clients in numerous industries from construction, transportation, and manufacturing, to hospitals and healthcare, to service, retail, restaurants and hotels. We represent employers in all areas of practice related to traditional labor, including:

• Representational Campaigns before the NLRB
• Unfair Labor Practice, Injunctive, and Compliance Proceedings before the NLRB
• Collective Bargaining
• Contract Administration
• Grievance Processing and Adjustment
• Arbitration
• Union Awareness Training and Prevention

Our labor team members have been recognized in the past as leaders in their fields and rising stars by publications such as Super Lawyers. They frequently share their expertise in speaking engagements and presentations.