Our Difference

We have been practicing labor law since just after the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, representing public and private sector employers on labor-related issues in and out of court and before regulatory bodies.

Sherman & Howard represents some of the largest unionized employers in the country as well as major employers seeking to remain union-free. We help our clients manage labor relations, advise on labor policies, procedures, and practices, resolve labor disputes through arbitration, mediation, or litigation, and develop effective strategies for successful negotiations.

Our Approach

Our lawyers are well-versed in all areas of labor law and have extensive experience with the National Labor Relations Act, the Railway Labor Act, and state and local labor laws. In fact, our team, which focuses exclusively on labor and employment law, comprises advisory counsel, litigators, former in-house counsel, a former counsel to an international union, and former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) agents. We bring to the table an insider’s perspective on the challenges our clients face and a deep knowledge of how best to proceed before regulatory bodies. Team members frequently appear before the federal agencies administering these laws as well as litigate labor issues in state and federal courts.

Services

  • Labor Law Counseling. We help employers develop and implement sophisticated and creative strategies for dealing with labor unions.
  • Labor Dispute Resolution. Our Labor Relations lawyers have successfully defended clients in hundreds of NLRB hearings and unfair labor practice proceedings, and they have extensive experience handling matters before the National Mediation Board. Our Labor Relations team arbitrates, on average, 50 labor arbitrations per year and resolves myriad grievances and labor disputes, including strikes, picketing, protest activity, and property incursions.
  • Collective Bargaining, Contract Enforcement, and Union Relations. We help employers negotiate and reform national, regional, and local collective bargaining agreements as well as resolve challenging, bet-the-company bargaining situations. Having dealt effectively with the most aggressive major labor unions, our team is on call to protect employer interests and operations.
  • Union Organizing and Corporate Campaign Defense. Our Labor Relations attorneys work with employers to develop tactics to successfully defend against union organizing and corporate campaign initiatives. We devise effective solutions to avoid work stoppages caused by strikes and lockouts, and we advise employers on the dos and don’ts during these challenging circumstances.
  • Workforce Strategy and Design. We help employers create a workforce infrastructure designed to advance important company initiatives, and we advise on labor relations issues that arise as workforces evolve through major restructurings such as mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs, and reductions-in-force.

Experience

  • We persuaded the NLRB to return to its traditional independent contractor test, reversing the Obama Board’s 2014 decision in FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB No. 610 (2014), and finding the Dallas/Ft. Worth SuperShuttle franchisees to be independent contractors. See SuperShuttle DFW, Inc. and ATU Local 1338, 367 NLRB No. 75 (Jan. 25, 2019).
  • We obtained a nationwide injunction for a telecommunications company against various forms of union protest, forcing the Communication Workers of America (CWA) to proceed to arbitration rather than “seek by means other than the grievance procedure to bring about the settlement of any issue.” The court’s order effectively brought an end to the CWA’s “mobilization” strategy. See US West Communications v. Communications Workers of America, No. 98-k-2317, 2000 WL 1700280, (D. Colo. July 21, 2000).
  • We secured injunctive relief for a major retail grocery chain against an unlawful secondary boycott and labor antitrust violations.
  • On behalf of a major retail grocery chain; we obtained a Boys Market injunction (injunction in aid of arbitration) and established labor antitrust violations that enabled our client to use third-party vendors in its stores.