By Mary Wright, Editor
On June 1, HR Gazette posted its opinion that:
“The NLRB is getting busy with social media in an attempt to make itself relevant to the new American workforce which is less manufacturing and more white collar. Social media is perfect for that. The Board’s January 2012 Facebook opinions or its recent (bumbling) attempt to draft sample social media employment policies are not so subtle attempts to get noticed by a generation of workers who sit behind computer stations instead of in assembly lines.”
Today, the NLRB has taken another step in “updating its online status” by creating a “clickable” map that allows readers to see what the NLRB has done for the terminated employees, in most cases at non-union workplaces, around the country.The NLRB’s new webpage states:
The law we enforce gives employees the right to act together to try to improve their pay and working conditions or fix job-related problems, even if they aren’t in a union. If employees are fired, suspended, or otherwise penalized for taking part in protected group activity, the National Labor Relations Board will fight to restore what was unlawfully taken away. These rights were written into the original 1935 National Labor Relations Act and have been upheld in numerous decisions by appellate courts and by the U.S. Supreme Court. Recent cases involving a range of industries and employees are highlighted on the map below; please hover over a pin for a summary or click and the full story will appear below.
Sarah Sladek, author of Rockstars Incorporated (an engaging guide to recruiting folks half your age), notes that by 2015
“we will observe the largest turnover in human capital in history and Generation Y (currently ages 17-30) will outnumber the Baby Boomers in the workforce. This is a substantial change in and of itself considering the Boomer generation has been in power for more than 40 years.”
The NLRB is on a crusade to appeal to this new younger workforce. An online interactive map creates a much more computer-friendly interface for folks who grew up with the ‘Net. There aren’t many pins in the map yet, but check back as the page just launched yesterday. There will be more.
