Current Employment

In Illinois, as elsewhere, the state’s school districts have their own Labor Relations Acts and Boards.  Illinois teachers’ unions are certified, and their claims of unfair labor practices are heard, by the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board (or IELRB). 
It has been that way for many years, and while the body of decisions by the IELRB grows, it’s you’d [...]

In response to the story I posted about the LA Police Protective League asking its private equity fund, Platinum Equity, to oust the editorial staff of the newspaper it acquired, I got the following email from Eric Rose at Englander & Associates, the PR firm working with the LA Police & Fire Union, along with [...]

Last week, I posted a summary of a LERA presentation on the benefits of private equity firms using labor pension funds to invest in struggling businesses. One of the upshots discussed was that the pension funds could use their investments to advance the agendas of the union.

At least one union is stretching the limits of that theory.

When you think of unions and New York City, what comes to mind? Probably not what they’re selling at international reasonably-priced fashionista retailer H&M.

But in a sign of the times, over 1,000 NYC employees are going to work today under a newly-ratified union contract that will raise their hourly pay and place restrictions on the company’s ability to change schedules at the last minute.

So does this mean the labor movement is getting a makeover?

As companies continue to suffer losses, unionized workforces are increasingly worried about their employers’ health and the future of their jobs. Some unions in troubled companies are finding an unlikely source of salvation and partnership: private equity.