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Capabilities / Traditional Labor Relations

Traditional Labor Relations

Aligning business goals with workforce strategies.

Husch Blackwell’s proactive approach to cultivating positive employee relations includes management training, monitoring grievances aired on social media, and other proven union avoidance techniques. At the first hint of an organizing campaign, our attorneys respond swiftly and decisively. We counsel upper management on do’s and don’ts, script speeches, and answer FAQs. 

For clients that have existing relationships with unions, our team has negotiated hundreds of collective-bargaining agreements. When the bargaining process breaks down, we defend clients against National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) allegations and assist in strike preparation, including obtaining injunctive relief in state and federal court. 

Representative Experience

  • Worked with management, in-house counsel, and human resources personnel of software company to provide employee relations strategy, implement new policies and employee code of conduct, and prepare new employee handbook.
  • Represented ConAgra Foods, Inc. in labor and management relations for the company’s six major divisions.
  • Assisted Fortune 500 company in the merger of its operations with another major concern, which included issues regarding union successorship liability and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
  • Participated on a team representing a hospital system in a union organizing campaign and related NLRB hearings.
  • Represented employer when plaintiffs alleged that union members, with the implied approval of their employer, violated federal labor statutes by manipulating union votes to approve a collective bargaining agreement and obtained a dismissal of all claims.
  • Won summary judgment regarding two different union elections in two different cases, halting the unionization efforts at a major home healthcare provider. Because of this litigation success, attempts to unionize the client’s workforce were prevented.
  • Defended Missouri-American Water Co. against 26 unfair labor practice charges filed by a union with the National Labor Relations Board. Won 24 of the charges and settled two, with settlements that required the posting of a notice, with no monetary outlay and no finding or admission of liability.
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Legal Updates | October 27, 2023
NLRB Issues Final Rule on Joint-Employer Status
Legal Updates | November 16, 2021
Vaccine Mandates May Require Collective Bargaining

Vaccine mandates present interesting issues for the unionized employer.

Blog | June 29, 2021
Update on Union Access to Property
Blog | February 22, 2021
The Nine Lives of Scabby the Rat
Legal Updates | February 27, 2020
NLRB Announces Final Rule on Joint Employer Standard
News Releases | August 18, 2020
Jenna Brofsky to Receive 2020 Missouri Lawyers Media Up & Coming Award

Brofsky was part of a team that in June launched a tool to help small and mid-market businesses return to their worksites during COVID-19 by developing Return-to-Work policies that comply with applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations.

I have listened to several of Husch Blackwell’s labor law podcast episodes and they are much appreciated. Tom Godar and the Husch Blackwell team does a great job of putting them together. The discussions have been timely and very helpful and I look forward to future episodes.

Thomas Fischer, Vice President & General Counsel, Duncan Aviation