General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo Releases Memo on Ensuring Rights and Remedies for Immigrant Workers
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In a new memorandum to all field offices released today, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo announced critical policies to ensure that immigrant workers have the protections they need to freely exercise their rights without retaliation under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
In it, she details casehandling procedures that will allow the Agency to effectively serve the unique needs of immigrant communities and ensure that the NLRB is not only accessible to all workers who seek the NLRB’s assistance, but also a safe place where they are treated with dignity—without regard to immigration status or work authorization.
“In order for all workers to be able to exercise their rights under the Act, we must zealously guard the right of immigrant workers to be free of immigration-related intimidation tactics that seek to silence employees, denigrate their right to act together to seek improved wages and working conditions, and thwart their willingness to report statutory violations,” said General Counsel Abruzzo. “I am resolved to hold fully accountable those entities that, by targeting immigrant workers and their workplaces, undermine the policies of the NLRA and the nation’s immigration laws.”
The memo also instructs region to seek full and immediate remedies regarding immigration-related threats and retaliatory conduct at every stage of an unfair labor practice case, including seeking Section 10(j) injunctive relief.
Additionally, the General Counsel will continue to pursue interagency collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its subagencies, to strengthen deconfliction procedures and support the provision of relief for witnesses and victims of unfair labor practices. Upon request by a charging party or witness, the General Counsel will seek deferred action, parole, continued presence, U or T status, a stay of removal or other immigration relief as available and appropriate.
Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.