Submerged beneath several feet of media chaff about General Michael Flynn is the largely unreported, expected nationwide strike against President Trump’s policies.
Given what appears to be ignorance or disinterest by the major media outlets and the scant participation of 17,000-23,000 reported Facebook followers on the event’s page, it is likely that this will, in fact, be a non-event. It is important to note, though, that in last year’s “$15 An Hour” strike, the NLRB ruled, in total contradiction to the National Labor Relations Act, that strikers fired in support of hiking the minimum wage were engaged in protected concerted activity and were ordered to be reinstated as a result of being unlawfully fired. As ludicrous as the proposition is that Trump’s policies are “terms and conditions of employment” as specified as the only basis for a lawful economic work stoppage, some legal authorities predict that discharging employees under the concept of an intermittent strike or for a garden-variety unexcused absence could result in retribution by the NLRB.
Though we do not, by definition, share the opinion that a work stoppage in protest of a U.S. President’s policies could possibly satisfy the definition of protected concerted activity, we recognize we are in the biggest era of who knows in the history of the United States.
The alert is simple. You should seek legal counsel in preparation for the possibility that your employees (or for that matter a single employee) may choose to protest by withholding their services this Friday.
Best regards,
William R. Adams, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan
1-800-237-3942
wadams@anh.wpengine.com