With employers across the country monitoring the conversation around supposedly expanding unionization activities and American workers going on strike, Marcel Debruge was included in The Wall Street Journal’s Current Features video series on November 23, 2021, providing perspective on the state of employee protections in today’s legal landscape.

While some might portray the recent trends in workforce strikes and unionization as a major issue in the American workplace, work stoppages are actually historically low based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor that highlights the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s as peaks in U.S. history.

“We live in a different world than we did in 1950,” Debruge said. “There are dozens and dozens of laws on the books that protect employees. There are safety and health rules. Back in the day, the only place a person had to go for protection was a union contract or a union grievance procedure. Today an employee can pick up the phone and call the EEOC, OSHA, or the NLRB.”

Along the lines of policy aimed at employee protection, Debruge also noted that the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and related elements included in the Build Back Better Act are important pieces of legislation to watch as they make their way through Congress.

For the full video, please click here.

Debruge was also quoted discussing the state of unionization efforts by The Wall Street Journal on October 17, 2021. More information on that coverage is available here.