Pyle Rome is pleased to announce that attorney Jeremy DaCruz has joined the Pyle Rome team. Jeremy comes to us most recently from the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers where he worked in roles as business agent, counsel, and advisor to the President. As an attorney licensed in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, Jeremy will help the firm continue to expand its reach representing unions across New England. Click on the attorney link to read more.

While past practice can often be a good tool to demonstrate the meaning of a contract, the Employer in this case learned that you actually have to prove the existence of the practice in order to win. Since the Employer had no actual evidence of a consistent practice, UFCW Local 1445 succeeded in enforcing the otherwise clear contractual seniority language. Pyle Rome attorney Al Gordon O'Connell prosecuted the case for the Union.

On July 23, 2024, a Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling summarily dismissing the frivolous election objections and exceptions filed by cannabis retailer Curaleaf and thus certified UFCW, Local 1445 as the exclusive representative of the employees at Curaleaf's Oxford, Mass., dispensary. The case was the first formal decision (and victory) for Pyle Rome attorney Catherine Terrell in the short time since she joined the firm.

A common management response to petitions for a union election is to challenge the right of some or all of the workers to vote for the union. As the National Labor Relations Act does not entitle certain supervisors to join or form unions, management frequently alleges that one or more workers meet the statutory definition of supervisor.

A recent decision by Region One of the National Labor Relations Board rejected this gambit used by a Massachusetts human services organization that operates group homes.

On behalf of Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA), Attorney Patrick Bryant persuaded the Vermont Supreme Court to issue the first decision affirming the reinstatement of a state employee in nearly two decades. The Vermont Supreme Court's decision further strengthened the primary role of the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB) in interpreting collective bargaining agreements governing state employees.