Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES—Ogletree Deakins’ Practical NLRB Advisor examines the current labor law policy paradox, (Apr 1, 2025)

By Marjorie Johnson, J.D.

There has certainly been no shortage of havoc on the labor-management front, and this issue of the Advisor takes a close look at the legal implications, noting that the chaos may be an existential threat to the Board.

Whether borne of a desire to rein in the general ubiquity of government regulation, fundamentally alter the tenor of labor relations law, decrease the size of government, or vanquish the “administrative state”—or whether simply the by-product of “moving fast and breaking things,” as the Spring 2024 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor observes, there has certainly been no shortage of havoc on the labor-management front. In the last 100 days we’ve witnessed terminations, nominations, and legislative proposals that have left pundits opining. In this issue of the Advisor, attorneys in the Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group take a look at some of the more significant developments and trends.

As is certainly clear, many aspects of labor law are being combined in the policy blender—and while the mix may seem chaotic, it can also create opportunity. In terms of the NLRB, this may be the perfect time for employers to stiffen their litigation resolve and expand their strategic and tactical approaches, this issue of the Advisor notes. The days of pro forma answers to complaints, unquestioned investigatory compliance, and lockstep acquiescence to Board directives and procedures may be at an end. Instead, the opportunity for creative affirmative defenses, constitutional and procedural objections, and parallel offensive litigation could now be here.

This issue of the Advisor also takes a deep dive into the legal implicants surrounding the “labor law framework” and initial Senate bill introduced by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, the court-ordered reinstatement of former Board member Gwynne Wilcox following her termination by President Donald Trump, the acting NLRB general counsel’s rescission of a series of consequential memoranda issued by his predecessor, and the last of the Biden-era Board’s decisions.

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