The NLRB continues to take action designed to help unions organize employees.  The latest step is the Board’s recently established web page designed to inform employees of their right to engage in protected concerted activity.  The web page, located at www.nlrb.gov/concerted-activity, begins with the statement: “The law we enforce gives employees the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions or fix job-related problems, even if they aren’t in a union.”  The web page includes a map of theUnited States with various points marked on the map which the user can click on to show approximately a dozen descriptions of recent NLRB cases involving protected activity by non-union employees.

The cases described include, among others, (1) a construction crew member who was fired after refusing to work in the rain near exposed electrical wires; (2) a customer service representative who lost her job after discussing her wages with a coworker; (3) an engineer at a vegetable packing plant who was fired after reporting safety concerns affecting other employees; (4) a paramedic who was fired after posting work-related grievances on Facebook; and (5) poultry workers who were fired after discussing their grievances with a newspaper reporter.  All of the cases involved a finding at some point in the NLRB process that the activity that the employees undertook was protected under federal labor law.

Of course, the Board’s web page does not mention that the law it enforces also gives employees the right not to join a union.