The NLRB might be preparing for another lack of quorum:

The Board has just regained their 3-member quorum after going without for most of 2025, and they are aiming to mitigate the effects of a repeat. That is a real prospect, given that David Prouty’s term will end on Aug. 27, and there’s no telling whether another Trump nominee will be ready to roll then.

To that end, the NLRB issued a decision confirming that regional directors have authority to certify union election results and perform other functions related to representation cases when the Board lacks a quorum.

It’s also worth noting that state attempts to create their own mini-NLRAs have faltered. In late November, a New York federal judge granted an employer’s request for a preliminary injunction that barred enforcement of the state’s law bestowing jurisdiction over many labor disputes upon their Public Employment Relations Board. And in late December, another federal judge granted the NLRB’s request for a preliminary injunction to block California’s law.

A new labor law for cannabis employers in New Jersey:

Via a heads-up from employment law attorney and Seyfarth partner Joseph Vento, New Jersey cannabis workers will be able to unionize in Spring 2026. To be more specific, this bill will be effective on May 12 and eliminate this industry’s grey area involving which workers are considered agricultural and therefore not covered by the NLRA.

In short, the NJ State Board of Mediation’s authority (within the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development) will cover any workers within this industry who do not have NLRA protections.

Statewide, cannabis employers will be subject to increased labor oversight and $5,000 per day noncompliance penalties. The law’s provisions are vast, including how businesses must not only not interfere with organizing activity but must also allow union access to workplace meetings, lists of workers, and any employee living quarters controlled by the employer. Unions will also be allowed to publicly encourage boycotts during disputes.

This legislation takes employer requirements far beyond the labor peace agreement requirement already existing for cannabis employers in New Jersey. Whether this bill amounts to mere smoke puffs that will evaporate or a persistent cloud that will pass to other states, we’ll have to wait and see.

The New York nursing strike could last for weeks:

On Monday of this week, around 15,000 members of the NY State Nurses Association (NYNSA) went on strike at three private, nonprofit hospital systems--Mount Sinai, Montefiore, and NewYork-Presbyterian. Two of the hospitals will return to the bargaining table on Friday, but future sessions will likely be scheduled via a mediator.

Both sides expect the strike to run for weeks, and these hospital systems prepared by hiring replacement nurses to the tune of at least $100 million. Meanwhile, NYNSA’s demands include better staffing ratios, increased pension and healthcare contributions, and dramatic salary increases.

How dramatic? Montefiore nurses’ average base salary is $165,000. NYNSA demands that this be raised to $220,000. In a response to CBS News, Montefiore Senior VP of Strategic Communications Joe Solmonese describes the union’s demands as “reckless,” not only for drastic wage increases but also in reportedly “demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job.”

In 2023, the last major NYC nursing strike involved 7,000 nurses, lasted three days, and ended with 19% raises over three years.

Has the SEIU “broken” California?

That’s the claim proffered by the Center for Public Accountability’s Marc Joffe in an article published by the California Policy Center. Joffe lays out his case by detailing how SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) helped devise a potential wealth tax that motivated Google’s co-founders to be among the billionaires who exited the Golden State.

The cumulative effects of this exodus could reduce tech industry jobs in California, which would have the opposite effect intended upon tax revenue. The law could also harm Silicon Valley tech workers who want to stay gainfully employed without leaving the state. Then again, this wouldn’t be the first SEIU kerfuffle to hurt California workers.

One recent example of this union’s heavy-handed lobbying ways would be the FAST Recovery Act, AB 1228, which went into effect in 2024 and raised fast-food minimum wage to $20 per hour. The law also created an illusory union, the California Fast Food Workers Union, through which the SEIU hopes to one day achieve sectoral bargaining for an entire industry.

That bargaining hasn’t happened yet, but the law did force many employers to cut labor costs to absorb the financial effects.

AI? It’s not “alright” for one movie star:

SAG-AFTRA member Matthew McConaughey is challenging those who would misuse AI regarding his image or likeness. The Dazed and Confused star is trademarking his most infamous line, “alright, alright, alright,” and Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has approved several applications of the star reciting those words.

The Oscar winner explained to the publication, “My team and I want to know that when my voice or likeness is ever used, it’s because I approved and signed off on it.”

Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA recently announced that they will start contract renewal negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Feb. 9, and their contract expires on March 16. Additionally, WGA’s contract will expire on May 1 with negotiation dates still under wraps. For both unions, AI guardrails will be on the table again, especially for the issue of training AI systems on studios’ content.