Traditional Labor Law

Haynes Boone’s traditional labor team helps employers navigate union relationships, workplace changes, labor disputes, and business transactions with clarity and confidence. We combine practical advice with a perspective that few other legal departments have and channel our deep experience to protect operations, manage and advise on risk, and advance business objectives.

Recognized by Chambers USA for 20 consecutive years (2007-2026), our labor and employment team advises clients across industries including manufacturing, technology, automotive, and energy sectors. Rather than telling clients what to do, we partner with them to provide analysis and recommendations tailored to their workplace culture and risk tolerance.

UNION CAMPAIGNS & LABOR RELATIONS STRATEGY

Our team helps employers get ahead of labor relations issues — from day-to-day compliance and supervisor training to navigating organizing campaigns and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.

• • Help employers build compliant workplaces in an ever-changing legal landscape by reviewing policies, workplace practices, and work rules before issues arise and offering advice that works with the individual client’s workplace culture and risk tolerance.
  • Train supervisors, HR teams, and senior management on labor fundamentals, employee engagement with a servant leadership mindset, and how best to respond to union organizing efforts.
  • Partner with clients to assist in preparing for union organizing activity, such as card signing, access to property, employee walkouts, solicitation and distribution, and other protected concerted activities.
  • Develop detailed campaign plans emphasizing team structure, communication channels and cadence, unit analysis, and voting logistics that are tailored to address issues in each specific campaign.
  • Handle representation proceedings, including demands for recognition, election petitions, bargaining-unit accretion and clarification matters, and decertification petitions and elections.
  • Plan for reductions-in-force, business consolidations, and outsourcing, including any bargaining obligations that may arise.
  • Partner with our clients based on their own risk tolerance to shape collective bargaining strategy through contract costing, priority setting, negotiation planning, and impasse analysis.
  • Lead or assist internal client teams with collective bargaining for new and successor agreements, from preparation and strategy through final terms and implementation.
  • Develop strike-contingency plans and advise on lockouts, temporary and permanent replacements, and other strike-related issues.

Representative Experience: 

• • Partnered with senior leaders at large automotive, manufacturing, logistics, and technology companies to develop protocols for responding to union organizing and other protected concerted activity. 
  • Developed and ran multiple campaigns where the employees overwhelmingly rejected unionization at critical and specialized automotive suppliers.
  • Successfully represented a major automotive manufacturer before the National Labor Relations Board regarding a union’s effort to organize a micro-unit at a large manufacturing facility. 
  • Created and conducted multi-day employee engagement trainings for major automotive manufacturer that was presented to senior management and HR employees across all of their U.S. operations, including its call centers, warehouses, and logistics operations. 
  • Created strike contingency plans for employers across industries. 
  • Led and advised on bargaining negotiations for organizations across industries, including an automotive manufacturer, symphony orchestra, warehouse distribution center, legal aid organization, restaurant chain, and technology company.

LABOR LITIGATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• • When a labor dispute moves into litigation or before the NLRB, we defend the employer’s position while keeping business continuity and the broader labor relationship in view.
  • Defend employers in NLRB unfair labor practice investigations and litigation.
  • Represent employers in pre-election hearings involving issues related to unit scope and composition.
  • Respond to claims alleging discrimination or unlawful discharge based on union status or activity, with a focus on protecting the employer’s position and business continuity.
  • Handle labor arbitrations involving discipline, discharge, and contract interpretation.
  • Handle litigation involving current and former union employees outside of the grievance/arbitration process.

Representative Experience: 

• • Successfully represented aerospace company in a multi-week unfair labor practice hearing that ultimately resulted in the company prevailing on all charges. 
  • Successfully defended employers in various industries, including automobile manufacturing, retail, and the arts in grievance arbitration proceedings. 
  • Successfully represented automobile manufacturer in California state court action and wage/hour administrative actions involving former union members. 
  • Successfully defended technology company in a high-profile unfair labor practice proceeding that resulted in the Labor Board dropping all charges related to employee discipline and unlawful discharge. 
  • Successfully represented facility management company at a pre-election hearing to defeat a union’s efforts to organize a multi-site bargaining unit of critical facility engineers.

BUSINESS TRANSACTION SUPPORT

We help employers identify and manage collective bargaining and labor-relations obligations early in a transaction, so labor issues don’t derail deal timelines or post-closing integration.

• • Advise on shutdowns, curtailments, and work transfers, including the labor-relations steps needed to support an orderly transition.
  • Evaluate proposed business structures in light of collective bargaining obligations and legal standards, including joint employer considerations.
  • Assess successor-liability exposure and help structure transactions and initial operations to strategically manage that risk.
  • Draft and review labor and employment provisions in asset purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements, and related transaction documents.
  • Provide assistance with project labor agreements on high-value construction projects.

When labor issues carry significant operational or transaction risk, Haynes Boone brings the experience, judgment, and responsiveness to help clients make the decisions and move forward with confidence. 

*Some of these representations were handled by attorneys prior to joining Haynes Boone.