1973, January, Pg. 9. When to Call a Labor Practitioner.

• Author: by Robert G. Good

2 Colo.Law. 9

The Colorado Lawyer

1973.

1973, January, Pg. 9.

When to Call a Labor Practitioner

9Vol. 2, No. 12, Pg. 9When to Call a Labor Practitionerby Robert G. GoodRobert G. Good, Denver, is a former supervisory attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, past Chairman of the CBA Labor Law Committee, and member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce "Blue Ribbon Committee of Lawyers for Labor Law Reform." Mr. Good is a private practitioner in Denver.No actively practicing attorney in Colorado can avoid being directly or indirectly exposed to labor law problems, and the rash of additional labor relations' statutes in recent years will accelerate the exposure. Although the rural attorney's exposure is less than that of his urban counterpart, it is nevertheless of sufficient magnitude to require a surface awareness of the field. It is vital that the attorney be able to recognize a labor law problem and respect its potential dangers and complexities. The object of this article is not to discourage the handling of a labor case, but rather to caution against assuming that a labor case can be handled in the same manner as the average civil or administrative law case.

Description of the FieldA broad description of the types of problems included in the field is appropriate. The practice of labor law includes the following general areas:

(a) Anything concerning unions. This covers a broad spectrum and any attempt to sub-categorize would be futile because of the enormity of the task. If a union is involved in your case it is almost always apparent.

(b) Anything concerning the civil rights of employees or employee applicants as those rights relate to their employment, or anything involving rights guaranteed an employee by statute. Generally this involves problems concerning employment discrimination based on race, religion, sex or age.

(c) Anything concerning industrial employee safety.

(d) Anything concerning federal or state statutes on wages, hours of work and working conditions whether the work is performed under government contracts or otherwise.

(e) Some unemployment compensation matters (usually in a strike situation), but generally not workmens' compensation.

Labor Law Cases Require RespectThere are a number of notable reasons why labor cases require respect.

In numerous cases, the practice of labor law is a mixture of law and...