The NLRB’s Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) backlog is real
The Board is still digging out from underneath a ULP mountain that began during last year’s government shutdown. Additionally, the current rate of ULP filings remains high, and this week, General Counsel Crystal Carey made a call to address the situation that isn’t solving itself.
Carey announced a “bulk transfer” of around 3,500 ULP cases to lighten the load on some Regional Offices. The transferred cases include those filed prior to Jan. 7, 2026, and Carey stressed that this redistribution will support her overall goals for efficiency and streamlining processes. Her main goal, however, is to “provide determinations to parties who have been waiting months, or even years, for resolution.”
On a related note, look for our upcoming INK articles on the ULP avalanche, coming soon.
The latest UAW federal monitor report has a Twin Peaks reference. Really
The United Auto Workers union has poured many millions into funding federal monitor Neil Barofsky’s investigation into their legacy of corruption. And if you worried that the saga was going to become less entertaining, fear not.
Not only has the monitor produced reports about Fain’s foul-mouthed outbursts and retaliation-filled workplace, but a fourteenth report has now emerged to paint another portrait of him losing his temper over money.
More specifically, the report details retaliation against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, who Barofsky previously ordered to be reinstated after another report detailed her orchestrated ousting by Fain after he threw a fit over her refusal to sign off on his questionable expenditure requests.
The new 82-page report details how Fain blamed Mock as the sole point of failure for how the union’s strike fund wasn’t reinvested as quickly as he’d preferred after the 2023 Big Three strikes. Barofsky did find evidence that this failure did occur, although several other leaders and subordinates were more responsible for the delay. However, Fain decided that Mock was solely responsible, and he wanted to outright fire her.
Barofsky detailed a conversation that he had with Fain and ex-Chief of Staff Chris Brooks, who insisted that accusations of wrongdoing against Mock were fact, not simply allegations. That somehow led to a bizarre Twin Peaks reference on Page 74, where Brooks remarked, “A fact is something like ... Laura Palmer is murdered, and the allegation would be [the Monitor] murdered her, right?” Sadly, no cherry pie entered the conversation.
Barofsky has one year left in this role, so we look forward to more oddities.
Why did Starbucks Workers United pull out of a Seattle cafe?
This week, Starbucks Workers United withdrew their petition for a union vote at the iconic Pike Place Market. This location, which was the first Starbucks cafe to open, would have been a symbolic “get” for the union, although they apparently realized that they didn’t have the votes to win and decided to avoid embarrassment.
Also, more context is emerging about the union’s behavior. The Seattle Times spoke with a worker who felt tricked into attending an organizing meeting and being presented with an authorization card: “I pretended to sign because I did not feel comfortable saying no in the moment.” Another worker spoke of how the union campaign was disruptive and sowed mistrust among baristas: “I wish I would have been able to vote.”
Starbucks publicly reacted to the withdrawal with a statement: “This prevents Pike Place partners from having the opportunity to make clear publicly whether they ever wanted union representation.”
A TikTok video was ruled to be concerted protected activity
In United States Postal Service, JD-26-26, an NLRB Administrative Law Judge found the Postal Service illegally disciplined two Florida employees for protected concerted activity and maintaining overbroad workplace rules.
One worker, a rural letter carrier, had posted TikTok videos about a pay cut for himself and several colleagues. USPS argued that this activity lost protection because the worker monetized this social media account, but the ALJ rejected this while holding that employee motive is not relevant in evaluating whether an activity is protected under the NLRA.
The case hinged on the "overbroad" Stericycle standard, and employers should treat this decision as a hint to revisit their own social-media and camera-ban policies while reviewing supervisor training.
Gen Z’s struggles to enter the workforce continue
What happens when a survey suggests that “only 2% of Gen Z has the values that hiring managers want and are looking for”? That figure emerged during a discussion on USA Today’s The Excerpt podcast, where NYU professor Suzy Welch called that result “staggering” while emphasizing that this is not the result of a skills gap or lack of work ethic. Rather, Welch believes that this is a widespread case of values misalignment between workers and their employers.
Clearly, generational gaps are nothing new, but the reality is that Gen Z is the future, especially amid the wave of retiring Baby Boomers. Employers cannot fill those sizeable shoes with 2% of candidates. And what Gen Z workers want most is to be actively listened to by their employers, although this survey points toward a massive divide in that department.
We’ve talked before about how Gen Z values both communication and transparency, and how employers should take heed of how it’s vital to actively listen to younger workers’ concerns and priorities. If workers feel ignored, that creates a vulnerability point where union organizers are happy to infiltrate and fill that gap with false promises.
