How can I learn labor law as cheaply as possible?
November 29, 2018 11:13 AM Subscribe
I am an organizer for a union, and have been interfacing with the NLRB. I need to get up to speed within the next several months on certain intricate details. What is the best way to learn? Any inexpensive online or correspondence courses? Helpful guides? Books?
Things I need to get better at fast:
Unfair Labor Practices, and the details of how they are frequently decided
Contract Bargaining
Labor-friendly grievance procedures
Other venues besides the NLRB for labor law violations
I know some colleges have labor law courses, but am not sure which ones will do it from a distance. I can spend some money, but not a lot: this is a very small union and any expenditure of money must be very, very worth it to the entire union.
Things I need to get better at fast:
Unfair Labor Practices, and the details of how they are frequently decided
Contract Bargaining
Labor-friendly grievance procedures
Other venues besides the NLRB for labor law violations
I know some colleges have labor law courses, but am not sure which ones will do it from a distance. I can spend some money, but not a lot: this is a very small union and any expenditure of money must be very, very worth it to the entire union.
I was on my union's (AFSCME) negotiating team through two contract negotiations. I made great use of our regional offices and courses they offered for free or relatively free. We even got some training from "Big AFSCME" --i.e. the national group--they sent out folks on their dime to help train us. They have resources on their website--and sometimes have scholarships. I know you say your union is small, but are you associated/affiliated with a larger group?
I've read publications from the UC Berkeley Labor Center that I have found to be useful--but they are California-centered.
I've taken seminars through the Labor Arbitration Institute. Those were useful as well--usually a day long and not too expensive. Sign up for their email newsletter--each one contains "what if" situations that are then reviewed by working arbitrators who give their thoughts on how they would approach it.
"Getting to Yes" by Roger Fisher is one book I found helpful for negotiations--a quick read with good basic negotiating ideas.
If you want me to bore you with some of my "lessons learned" for contract negotiations, feel free to memail me.
posted by agatha_magatha at 12:10 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've read publications from the UC Berkeley Labor Center that I have found to be useful--but they are California-centered.
I've taken seminars through the Labor Arbitration Institute. Those were useful as well--usually a day long and not too expensive. Sign up for their email newsletter--each one contains "what if" situations that are then reviewed by working arbitrators who give their thoughts on how they would approach it.
"Getting to Yes" by Roger Fisher is one book I found helpful for negotiations--a quick read with good basic negotiating ideas.
If you want me to bore you with some of my "lessons learned" for contract negotiations, feel free to memail me.
posted by agatha_magatha at 12:10 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am a labor lawyer but not yours :) I sense from the way you frame your question that yours is an independent union, not affiliated with an "international." That is a hard row to hoe, but I leave that decision to you and your colleagues. If you are affiliated with a larger union, they will be your primary resource. As dpx.mfx says above, there is an immense amount to know. One way to get started is with this Labor Guide to Labor Law (available on Kindle), written for non-lawyers on the labor side.
posted by sheldman at 1:17 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by sheldman at 1:17 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Yes, to clarify, sheldman is correct, the cavalry is not coming in our particular case. Our larger organization does not have the funding or training resources to provide that funding.
I should also add, if you know of any labor scholarships available anywhere that would also be helpful!
posted by corb at 1:40 PM on November 29, 2018
I should also add, if you know of any labor scholarships available anywhere that would also be helpful!
posted by corb at 1:40 PM on November 29, 2018
The Center for Legal Studies has a round-up of colleges with employment-law-related online classes. The page is in service of a certificate program, but the classes can be taken discretely. I'm linking for the sampling of US colleges offering these types of online courses - hopefully you'll see your state represented.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:32 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:32 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I took a labor law course via the NWU (National Writers Union), based out of NYC, but I was in the Chicago division at the time, and they sponsored me to fly out to Amherst, Mass. for the workshop. I wonder if you can contact those people and ask about it (their joining fee is nominal and they may even be affiliated with you, ours was affiliated with UAW).
If you want to MeMail me, I can also give you some personal contacts who might be able to help.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 3:48 PM on November 29, 2018
If you want to MeMail me, I can also give you some personal contacts who might be able to help.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 3:48 PM on November 29, 2018
Op, hasn't your union got a labor lawyer on retainer? Someone to consult with about grievance and contractual issues that may involve legal violations? If not, they should, because they're flyin' blind without one. If they do, find out if the retainer covers the lawyer giving labor-law-for-union-activists workshops, of if the lawyer will do it for an additional fee. You might even be able to call around and find local lawyers willing to give a short presentation on a specific issue or two (ADA, FMLA) for free or cheap.
I was an activist in my local union, and as a steward whenever I had a belief that the grievance involved a potential legal violation, I called our lawyer on retainer. (Who perpetually reminded me that as a non-lawyer I wasn't qualified to interpret the meaning of a statute). He presented to the activists, and we had lawyers from a couple other law firms present to our leadership and stewards regarding typical workplace issues and what state and federal law said/didn't say about them.
posted by Lunaloon at 4:46 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was an activist in my local union, and as a steward whenever I had a belief that the grievance involved a potential legal violation, I called our lawyer on retainer. (Who perpetually reminded me that as a non-lawyer I wasn't qualified to interpret the meaning of a statute). He presented to the activists, and we had lawyers from a couple other law firms present to our leadership and stewards regarding typical workplace issues and what state and federal law said/didn't say about them.
posted by Lunaloon at 4:46 PM on November 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
You could do worse than to read Labor Law for the Rank and Filer by Daniel Gross, even if you aren't the rank-and-filer he had in mind. But all this will really set you up to do is ask better questions of a labor lawyer.
Labor law is, more than other areas of law, a dense thicket of quirks is in constant flux that can only be understood historically. As a staff organizer, you are being set up to fail if you can't regularly talk to counsel.
posted by phrontist at 7:37 AM on November 30, 2018
Labor law is, more than other areas of law, a dense thicket of quirks is in constant flux that can only be understood historically. As a staff organizer, you are being set up to fail if you can't regularly talk to counsel.
posted by phrontist at 7:37 AM on November 30, 2018
Response by poster: Clarification the second!:
Everyone telling me to talk to a lawyer is 100% right, it would be wonderful, but actually, we don't have a lawyer on retainer. The one time we tried, we couldn't pay for enough hours to make it useful. This is a small, scrappy union with thousands of members and probably one or two hundred small shops organizing with minimum wage workers who pay very small dues. I am not a paid staff organizer, we don't have the funds to pay a staff organizer. I am a volunteer who spends about 15-20 hours a week doing this.
posted by corb at 9:50 AM on November 30, 2018
Everyone telling me to talk to a lawyer is 100% right, it would be wonderful, but actually, we don't have a lawyer on retainer. The one time we tried, we couldn't pay for enough hours to make it useful. This is a small, scrappy union with thousands of members and probably one or two hundred small shops organizing with minimum wage workers who pay very small dues. I am not a paid staff organizer, we don't have the funds to pay a staff organizer. I am a volunteer who spends about 15-20 hours a week doing this.
posted by corb at 9:50 AM on November 30, 2018
Hi! I worked for unions for about a decade. IANYL, or anyone's, but I was the person who talked most frequently with the lawyer before we moved forward on several issues, including NLRB and ULP stuff. If you think I could be a useful sounding board or help you to get to the right questions and answers, MeMail me!
posted by kensington314 at 8:40 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by kensington314 at 8:40 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I would start with the NLRB website and look at their casehandling manual. It will be a broad overview but it is literally what the board agents do to decide.
For contract bargaining - that's a skill honed over years. I guess you could start by finding some contracts in your industry and reading them. Lots of them are available on union websites, but surely your union has examples.
If you're in a large city, reach out to some local union-side labor lawyers. They will no doubt be eager to help you.
All "labor law" violations are handled by the NLRB and their state equivalents. But if you mean employment related stuff more generally, you are mostly looking for the EEOC, The Department of Labor, and possibly OSHA. Other agencies are going to differ by industry.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:31 AM on November 29, 2018 [4 favorites]