Andy Stern’s big sell-out

The Wall Street Journal reports on a highly unusual development in the area of labor relations law:

Two of the nation’s largest labor unions [SEIU and UNITE-HERE] have struck confidential agreements with large employers that give the companies the right to designate which of their locations, and how many workers, the unions can seek to organize.

The agreements are raising questions about union transparency and workers’ rights. A summary document put together by the unions says it is critical to the success of the partnership “that we honor the confidentiality and not publicly disclose the existence of these agreements.” That includes not disclosing them to union members.

Setting aside my doubts about the wisdom and efficacy of such agreements for unions and workers interested in effective representation, I wonder about their legality. There would appear to be at least some argument that these agreements interfere with the Section 7 rights of those employees who are designated as “off limits”, and thus amount to employer and union unfair labor practices. I’d be interested to see what the folks at Workplace Prof Blog have to say.

(Thanks to Graeme for the tip.)