“Given the invalidation of Hy-Brand, and the resulting reaffirmation of Browning-Ferris as the authoritative Board precedent governing joint-employer determinations, the General Counsel should put further settlement discussions on hold at this time and promptly move to resume and finish the ULP trial,” the letter states. “There can be no justification, we submit, for rushing to conclude a ‘fire-sale’ settlement.”
The Labor Board’s Hy-Brand reversal puts the Obama-era Browning-Ferris standard back into effect, making it easier for workers to hold big companies like McDonald’s jointly responsible for workplace violations along with their franchisees. The workers case was initially brought under a pre- Browning-Ferris standard, and workers believed they had a strong case even after Hy-Brand became the law. Now that Browning-Ferris is once again the standard, the case should be evaluated under the new standard, the workers’ attorneys argued in their letter to Mr. Robb.
In July 2014, the Labor Board’s General Counsel issued a directive that McDonald’s is a joint employer with its franchisees – a finding that the New York Times described as “a potentially disabling blow to the low-wage, anti-union business model of McDonald’s and other fast-food giants.” He issued 19 consolidated complaints against McDonald’s and its franchisees alleging widespread violations of workers’ rights to organize for better pay and working conditions.
Article Appeared @https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/03/02/mcdonalds-workers-nlrb-let-judge-decide