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Volume 109 - Issue 6

Compliance of the United States with International Labor Law

By David Weissbrodt & Matthew Mason. Full text here. The United States is one of 185 member states of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Despite holding a permanent seat on the ILO Governing Body, the United States is a party to only 14 of the 189 labor conventions and two of eight core conventions. The United…

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Less Is More: A Case for Structural Reform of the National Labor Relations Board

By Zev J. Eigen & Sandro Garofalo. Full text here. Historically, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has interpreted the unfair labor practice provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or Act) primarily through the adjudication of individual cases involving charges against employers or unions. Because control of the Board shifts back and…

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Whither Wagner? Reconsidering Labor Law and Policy Reform

By Sara Slinn. Full text here. Although Canada and the United States have both adopted labor relations legal frameworks based on the Wagner model, labor relations have played out very differently in the two countries. This is particularly evident in the countries’ divergent trajectories of changing union density. In recent decades the United States has experienced…

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Labor’s Soft Means and Hard Challenges: Fundamental Discrepancies and the Promise of Non-Binding Arbitration for International Framework Agreements

By César F. Rosado Marzán. Full text here. Globalization has led to union decline almost universally across the world’s capitalist democracies. But despite globalization, global labor unions have been able to sign International Framework Agreements (IFAs) with more than 110 multinational corporations that cover about 9 million workers, excluding contractors and suppliers. IFAs are agreements signed…

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Trilogy Redux: Using Arbitration to Rebuild the Labor Movement

By Ann C. Hodges. Full text here. The Supreme Court is in the midst of a revolution in arbitration jurisprudence comparable to that reflected in the Steel-workers Trilogy in 1960. While the Trilogy was hailed as a major accomplishment in labor relations, the current revolution is devastating the rights of nonunion workers and consumers. The Court’s…

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“Easy In, Easy Out”: A Future for U.S. Workplace Representation

By Samuel Estreicher. Full text here. This paper proposes an amendment to our basic labor laws that I call “easy in, easy out.” Essentially, representation elections—secret-ballot votes to decide whether employees want union representation and whether they want to be represented by the particular petitioning labor organization(s)—in relatively broad units, would, over time, become automatic. Every…

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Note: Changing Course to Navigate the Patent Safe Harbor Post-Momenta

By Emily M. Wessels. Full text here. The patent safe harbor, 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1), codifies an exception to the general concept of patent exclusivity that excuses entities from infringement liability for activities reasonably related to submitting information under federal laws that regulate drugs. For the past three decades, this provision has operated in a pharmaceutical…

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Note: Status Update: Adapting the Stored Communications Act to a Modern World

By Jake Vandelist. Full text here. This Note addresses the Stored Communications Act’s application to civil discovery. Congress passed the Stored Communications Act in 1986 to extend Fourth Amendment protection to electronic communications and remote computing. Congress never intended for the SCA to limit civil discovery of these communications, however, judges have expanded the SCA’s scope…

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Note: That’s Not on the Table: Why Employers Should Pay for the Walk from the Locker Room to the Work Station

By Emily E. Mawer. Full text here. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay their employees continuously throughout the day, even for activities such as travel time, which may not be considered work. However, § 203(o) of the statute provides an exception to that obligation. The provision states that if the employer has established…

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