We and our Right

TEAM MEMBER ARE : PRASHANT

SHUBHAM
SAIRAL
LOONKARAN
 Content

1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. Acknowledgements 4
3. Nationwide Impact 5
4. The Scope of the Field 6
5. LABOUR LAW 7
6. EMPLOYMENT LAW 8
7. Safety & Health 9
 INTRODUCTION

 There is something fundamental to a person’s identity about work.

“People’s jobs are their lives,” says Claire Prestel ’02, a staff attorney
for Public Justice who previously worked for the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) and the labour and civil rights firm Altshuler
Berzon. “It gives you your sense of who you are as a person, your
sense that you are contributing to society. Anyone who has been
laid off or spent a period of time involuntarily unemployed knows
how bad that feels.” Work allows us to pay the bills, but is also a
fundamental outlet through which we express ourselves to the
broader community. Work defines our daily schedule and also
shapes our future aspirations.
 Acknowledgements

 This guide would not have been possible without the thoughtful
insights gathered through nearly 40 interviews with labour and
employment attorneys. Profound thanks are due to the following
individuals for sharing their personal stories and rich knowledge of
the field: Robin Alexander, Alison Asarnow, Steve Berzon, Cathleen
Caron, Robert DeGregory, Elizabeth Drake, Edward Eitches, Terri
Gerstein, Chuck Gilligan, Norm Gleichman, Shelley Gregory, Aaron
Halegua, Piper Hoffman, Laura Juran, Lela Klein, Sophia Lai, Cyrus
Mehri, ReNika Moore, Claire Prestel, Jose Rodriguez, JJ Rosenbaum,
Sasha Shapiro, Hara Sherman, Summer Smith, Doug Stevick, Ashwini
Sukthankar, Judith Starr, Julie Su, Anand Swaminathan, Daniel Vail,
Grayson Walker, and Michelle Yau.
 Nationwide Impact

 On a larger scale, Claire Prestel ’02 notes that unions serve a function
rarely perceived or appreciated by law students: “Corporations and
big banks and all of these entities, they have a 6 huge and growing
amount of sway. You need a counterbalance and Congress can’t be
that counterbalance because they get their money from the
corporations. If you have unions, they represent thousands of
employees. That’s the other side.” Laura Juran adds, “The unions are still
the groups that can get out thousands of people on a day’s notice to
vote on an issue…I really feel like we’re also protecting the middle class
and middle class interests.” An understanding of the role that unions
play in our society is essential, especially in light of current events: in
May 2011, Wisconsin, one of the first states to provide collective
bargaining for public sector workers, officially revoked almost all of
those rights. A number of states appear to be moving in that direction.
 The Scope of the Field

 The vagueness of the term “labour and employment law” can deter
law students and attorneys when considered alongside easily
definable fields that may sound more exciting, such as
environmental law, education law, and health law. Yet labor and
employment law is truly a versatile field that frequently touches on
issues that arise in a wide range of other legal disciplines.
 LABOUR LAW

 Labour lawyers primarily work in or on behalf of unions and their

members. In doing so, they are working under standards prescribed by
the National Labor Relations Act (and a few other relevant statutes),
which encourages collective bargaining and governs worker
organizations and their interactions with employers. Labor lawyers’ work
may range from negotiating new collective bargaining agreements on
behalf of hundreds or thousands of workers to advising union leaders to
representing individual union members in arbitration proceedings. While
unionmanagement relations are governed by three specific federal
statutes, discussed below, workers’ “continuing demand for collective
action has forced open alternative legal channels, which include
collective campaigns in which workers turn to employment law, in
particular the Fair Labor Standards Act and Title VII , as the legal
architecture that facilitates and protects their collective activity.
 EMPLOYMENT LAW

 Employment attorneys encounter a wide variety of issues

related to the governance and structure of employment
relationships in non-union workplaces. Some of these issues include
wage and hour standards, discrimination, workplace safety and
health, pensions and benefits, and workers’ compensation. In
addition, they may also deal with some issues that are typically
considered to be part of labour law practice (for example, the
ability of workers to enforce employment rights collectively).
 Safety & Health

 Safety and health regulations set standards designed to eliminate

personal injuries and illnesses from occurring in the workplace. These
standards are enforced through periodic inspections conducted in
workplaces subject to the regulations. Standards for safety and
health often require employers to adopt certain practices to
appropriately protect workers on the job; employers are required to
both familiarize themselves with the applicable standards and
remove any hazards that might pose a threat to their employees.
Numerous federal, state, and local job safety and health programs
exist that cover both private sector and government employees.
Mine safety is another “hot topic” in the field of employment law.
THANKS