NLRB, Alternative Entertainment See Amicus Backing in Arbitration Row

The February order from the National Labor Relations Board that satellite TV installer Alternative Entertainment (AE) violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) came from "a reasonable construction" of the law, the AFL-CIO said in an amicus brief (in Pacer) Monday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. NLRB is seeking a court judgment enforcing its order and denying AE's petition for review. An AE arbitration agreement requires workers to forego substantive rights such as the right to take concerted action, the union said, and the NLRB order doesn't prevent AE employees from individually and voluntarily invoking arbitration. The original complaint said AE required all employment-related disputes be settled through individual arbitration, and the company fired an employee for discussing compensation and other information with co-workers. AE has backing from the Chamber of Commerce, which in its amicus brief (in Pacer) in June argued that numerous appellate and U.S. District courts have said the NLRB's argument the NLRA prohibits workplace agreements to arbitrate disputes on an individual basis is irreconcilable with the Federal Arbitration Act.