Strategic Legal Advice
Our firm provides strategic legal advice to help unions and workers gain the tactical edge in organizing campaigns and build power in contract negotiations. We understand how to integrate our legal and practical insights into the Union’s broader strategies for organizing, bargaining, and enforcing contracts.
NLRB and BMS Proceedings
Our attorneys have decades of experience working with the federal National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services (“BMS”) to protect our clients’ rights. We have successfully handled numerous unfair labor practice proceedings, unit clarification petitions, representation hearings, post-election proceedings, and other matters before the NLRB and BMS.
Arbitration and Litigation
We have substantial experience enforcing workers’ rights under collective bargaining agreements in litigation before labor arbitrators. Over several decades, we have successfully arbitrated complex subcontracting, layoff, and health insurance grievances on behalf of our labor clients—frequently against major corporations. Additionally, we have won reinstatement and back pay for hundreds of unjustly terminated union members.
In numerous cases, we have also successfully defended our arbitration victories when employers have tried to challenge the results in court.
Innovative Legal Policy and Legislative Initiatives
Unions play a critical role in advancing the law and legislative policy on behalf of their members and the public. Our firm has a history of successfully crafting innovative local and state initiatives on behalf of our union clients. This work has included partnering with union clients on legislative initiatives, including working with administrative agencies on policy design and direction, labor peace resolutions for service contracts, prevailing wage legislation, Minnesota’s Best Value Contracting law for the construction industry, and numerous project labor agreements. We have also represented union clients as amicus curie (“friends of the court”) on several cases involving the development of labor law in Minnesota.