Just before Labor Day, the National Labor Relations Board issued an employee-friendly decision in Miller Plastic Products, Inc., likely broadening what will now constitute protected, “concerted activity” under Section 7 of the NLRA.
The Board overruled the Alstate Maintenance decision (2019), which had adopted a checklist-based test for defining protected “concerted activity,” finding it too narrow and constrained. Instead, the Board held that “the question of whether an employee has engaged in concerted activity is a factual one based on the totality of the record evidence.”
The decision emphasizes a blurring distinction between when an employee is engaging in concerted activity as opposed to merely expressing an individual gripe, which is not protected under Section 7 of the NLRA.
See the Board’s full decision below.