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Three LU law professors, Frank J. Cavaliere, J.D., Toni P. Mulvaney, J.D., and Marleen Swerdlow, J.D, recently authored a paper which will be published in the “Southern Law Journal.”      .

The paper, entitled “’Protected Concerted Activity’ Decisions Under the Obama-Era NLRB: A Look at the Political and Ethical Issues Facing the NLRB in an Era of Declining Union Membership,” explores the political use of the National Labor Relations Board and many of the pro-worker decisions made under the Obama administration, as well as how many of these decisions are being overturned by the newly appointed Trump NLRB. The paper explores all of this against the backdrop of disempowerment and declining membership for unions in the United States.

"The 'concerted activities' protection under the National Labor Relations Act was a workable piece of a much larger universe," Cavaliere said.  “The law protects employees who ‘engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.’" 

“Now that unions have less prominence in the workplace, this protection of the law becomes more significant,” Mulvaney explained in an email. Mulvaney’s daughter, Erin, covers labor issues for Bloomberg Law and gave valuable input for the research.

“As we studied the appointments and procedures of the emerging Trump-era NLRB, we learned how much politics drives their motivations and decisions,” Mulvaney said. “We also examined some of the ethical implications and conflicts-of-interest involved in the Trump Board's overruling of the Obama Board's overturned precedents. Thus, our paper emerged.”

Mulvaney and Swerdlow presented the paper in San Antonio at the annual meeting of the Southern Academy of Legal Studies in Business in March of this year. Their talk was well received at the conference. Mulvaney said the three are pleased about the article’s acceptance in the “Southern Law Journal.” It’s their second article to be published this year.