Government, Courts, and the World of Work

The Wall Street Journal reports that labor unions will be targeting federal contractors in 2009. According to the people quoted in the resport, unions view federal contractors, including banks, as vulnerable to organizing.

Unions are lobbying to include labor rules in the stimulus package being prepared by Congress, including a requirement that contractors remain neutral during organizing drives.

Meanwhile, in its final days the Bush administration is considering an executive order that ensures federal contractors do not abandon elections in favor of card-check rules.

It is unclear, however, whether any of these actions now being discussed would be legal, considering that the National Labor Relations Act preempts most labor regulations and that the First Amendment protects  both union and employer speech during organizing drives.