NLRB & Social Media

As a labor and employment mediator and arbitrator, I have been alternatingly intrigued and concerned about recent NLRB guidelines and ALJ rulings concerning use of and limitations on the use of social media.  See, e.g., Aug. 18, 2011 NLRB Office of General Counsel Report

Public Sector Woes Part III: Public Sector CBAs & Unilateral Change

As readers may know, I have been doing a series of reviews/commentaries based on the Winter 2012 ABQ Journal of Labor & Employment Law, which is largely devoted to the recent travails of public sector collective bargaining.  One article, by Stephen F. Befort, asks why is unilateral change somehow more acceptable or possible in the public sector.   

NM Workers Comp Tidbits

As a labor/employment mediator, arbitrator and ALJ, I strive to keep abreast of--and inform my readers of noteworthy labor and employment cases.  Although the Workers Comp Administration in New Mexico maintains its own stable of mediators and ALJs, I like to keep up with this area of law also, mostly because the issues that arise are so darn interesting.  Two recent cases highlight that.

Cleaning House and Cleaning Up Our Acts - Anti-Bullying Legislation

As I catch up—or at least get less far behind—on the piles of work, potentially work-generating activities, kid activities, and volunteer responsibilities  littering my plate, I turn to a long delayed blog.  Ahhhhh, it's like Spring Cleaning.

You see, I have been toting around Volume 14 of the LERA publication Perspective on Work"—yes, that's "Summer 2010/Winter 2011"—for months now, wanting to do something with it.  It had a number of interesting articles I wanted to comment on, including titillating tidbits like work place bullying, and universal, guaranteed pensions for all.  But, the longer I waited and put it off, the more things jumped ahead in line… You know how that goes. 

Now, however, I am ready to tackle it.  I am just back from facilitating at a women's retreat held by my church, where we discussed issues like the burdens we carry around unnecessarily, freedoms we fail to exercise, and ways in which our freedom is restricted by ourselves as well as by forces outside our control.  In honor of these themes, I will limit myself to just the issue of bullying, and then promptly discard what has become an albatross upon my briefcase.

NM PELRB Director Terminated

The New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) Director--Pam Gentry, who was just hired in the Fall of 2010 but has not appeared to have reduced the case backlog --was terminated effective February 5, 2011 according to agency correspondence to parties rescheduling a Status Conference.