Albuquerque Labor Board Unable to Agree on Neutral Appointment

The City of Albuquerque's Labor Management Relations Board--currently comprised of the Labor and Management appointments, Justin Lesky and Barbara Stephenson respectively--met today at 9:00 a.m. at the Mesa Del Sol Building, but were unable to reach a decision on the neutral appointment.  The Labor rep is looking for a candidate with specific labor experience, while the Management rep appears to be looking for a candidate who has a track record representing both sides of the table in either labor or employment matters.

"FedEx III" and Independent Contractors

A crucial issue in labor and employment law is often whether a person is an "employee" or "independent contractor," because this will determine whether or not the worker is entitled to various protections.  In the Fall 2010 issue of the ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law, Jeffrey E. Dilger analyzes the .D.C. Circuit's 2009 decision, FedEx Home Delivery v. NLRB, 563 F.3d 492 ("FedEx III"), concluding that it will dramatically reshape independent contractor jurisprudence.

Statistical Survey of Changes to NLRA Precedent

In the Fall 2010 issue of the ABA Journal of Labor and Employment Law, G. Roger King provides a very provocative statistical survey comparing the rate of reversals of NLRA precedent under the Clinton and G.W. Bush Federal Labor Relations Boards, and concludes the Clinton Board --not the Bush Board-- was the more activist.

Disparate Claims Under ADEA Face Uphill Battle

In the Fall 2010 issue of the ABA Journal of Labor  Employment Law, authors Rozycki & Sullivan, argue that disparate claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) continue to face an uphill battle, even with the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Smith v. City of Jackson, 544 US 228 (2005), and Meacham v. Knolis Atomic Power Laboratory, 128 S.C. 2395 (2008). 

PELRB Meets Again to Discuss Hiring of New Director

Today the Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) met again to continue to discuss the hiring of a new Executive Director. As I discussed in a prior blog , the PELRB determined at its April 25 meting to hold off on choosing a new Director until additional resumes could be submitted to the Governor's Office, and considered.  There were some new faces and efficiency arguments, but mostly same old same old.

"The Future of Public Employee Collective Bargaining in New Mexico" - Seminar Summary

The May 6, 2011 Seminar, "The Future of Public Employee Collective Bargaining in New Mexico," was quite a success.  The seminar was Dr. T. Zane Reeve's "brainchild, and was sponsored by the UNM School of Public Administration with some assistance from the Federal Mediation Conciliation Service (FMCS).  Its overriding themes and questions was could what occurred in Wisconsin happen here and if we are in danger, how can we do things differently in the future.

Worker's Comp and Immigration Status

In Gonzalez v. Performance Painting, Inc. et al., 2011-NMCA-025, cert. granted, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently considered (and rejected) the applicability of workers' compensation "modifier" benefit provisions to undocumented immigrant workers.