“Creative Destruction” in Legal Jobs II – Labor Law
December 26, 2011 This second Law Careers blog in the Creative Destruction series looks at Labor Law, which has experienced something of a revival in the past year. This is despite the fact that private sector unions now account for a piddling 7 percent of the work force. Public employee unions, in contrast, comprise 38 percent of the work force and are in the midst of a robust revival.
Labor Law Emerges from Deep Hibernation
Labor Law has been a rather sleepy practice area for many years. Then came the 2010 election, which put Republican governors in office in the union-heavy (a very relative term) Midwest. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and his ideological clones in other states have done more for the American labor movement than anyone since Samuel Gompers and John L. Lewis. What was dead as a doornail has now been energized, raised from the dead to fight once more for collective bargaining and other rights, and to become deeply involved in national and state elections, with open pocketbooks.
Labor law and labor relations jobs on attorney job websites have steadily increased in recent months, with law firm labor and employment practices leading the way.
First it was Gov. Walker, followed quickly by Gov. John Kasich in Ohio, who went after public employee unions in a big way. While Walker and Kasich went immediately from DefCon V to DefCon I, which was rash and foolish, they have a point, one which is going to come home to roost in every single public employee collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiation for the next decade, at least.
In many states, CBA negotiations have, for years, taken the form of the unions holding a gun to the heads of management. The result has been, for example, the outrageous, gilt-edge contracts that some unions have that permit their members to featherbed their working hours during their last few years of employment in order to take home annual six-figure pension checks. State and municipal governments can no longer afford to operate in this way, even were the national economy to turn around tomorrow.
For example, while New York State is one of the jurisdictions that bans strikes by its public employee unions, it still has to contend with what is called the “Triborough Doctrine,” under which the unions received what amounts to a quid pro quo from the state in return for the no-strike prohibition: Employers are not permitted to change the terms and conditions of existing CBAs during negotiations for a new labor contract. Consequently, there is never a union incentive to negotiate a new CBA if its members would likely be better off under the old agreement. In brutal economic times like the present, when state and local budgets are under extreme stress, the likelihood of improving their lot by negotiating a new CBA is remote, to say the least. Therefore, negotiations tend to continue ad infinitum. While that means that a lot of customary union contentiousness and posturing is off the table, it puts governments in a serious bind.
What all of this means is that labor law has re-emerged as an attractive practice area, at least with respect to the public sector.
The Long Term
Ah, but not so fast.
While I think it is going to take years to sort out the tension between government fiscal and budgetary constraints and removing the gilt from current public employee union contracts, eventually it has to happen or both sides and the public will suffer mightily. It is predicting how long the sorting out process is going to take that is the tough issue.
My best guess is 7-10 years. What that means is that labor law is likely one of those practice areas that is uniquely affected by economic ups and downs. While it has not been consistently countercyclical―hot in a down economy; not so hot during periods of strong economic growth―it appears to be right now, but for different reasons than, say, bankruptcy practice, which manifests a “purer” form of contrariness vis-à-vis the business cycle. The difference is that the current economic crisis has earmarked public employee benefits as a policy problem that has to be resolved if the economy is to recover, period. That is very different from the sine wave character of other practice areas that ebb and flow with the business cycle.
The bottom line: While you can make a lot of hay while labor law shines, it is perhaps unwise to put all of your practice eggs in an exclusively labor law basket. The best backup plan you can have is one where the experience and skill sets that you develop practicing labor law can be transferred fairly easily to another practice area. In this case, that would be Employment Law (see “Creative Destruction in Legal Jobs I – Employment Law. Your best strategic move might be to combine both practices.
Boosting Your Labor Law Credentials
More than with respect to Employment Law, credentials mean something when it comes to competing for a Labor Law position. It helps considerably to have taken Labor Law courses in law school and/or to have a related undergraduate or graduate degree. Nevertheless, there are short-term and reasonably priced educational programs that you can take to enhance your competitive advantage, such as:
Rutgers University - Public Sector Labor Relations Certificate Program
Mountain States Employers' Council - Unions: Labor Relations Certificate Program
University of California-Davis Extension - Certificate in Labor-Management Relations
City University of New York – The Murphy Institute - Graduate Certificate in Labor Studies
For More Information
American Bar Association Section of Employment and Labor Law
International Labour Organization
Next: Education Law
Reader Comments (3)
I'm studying law in Austin State University and all I can say that every articles in this blog is really informative and it help me to gain knowledge and get some idea how to accomplished my brain cracking assignments in labor law.
I found your write ups very interesting, i think labor law is really a huge topic and should be given proper attention especially those company who do not give their employees the proper benefits. This is especially seen to those small time employees, government should also take part of this by calling the attention of this companies.
Every employee has the right to get what do they have deserve and avoid racism and discrimination by their employer and fellow employee.