Former National Labor Relations Board Chair Wilma Liebman joins panel discussion on conflict between local and federal labor laws

On November 29, a discussion moderated by Samuel Estreicher, Dwight D. Opperman Professor of Law and director of NYU Law's Center for Labor and Employment Law, considered the question “Is It Time to Revisit Federal Labor Law Preemption?”

Wilma Liebman and Samuel Estreicher

The complexities surrounding when and how federal labor law preempts state and local labor law have inspired considerable debate. The assembled experts agreed that changes were needed, although they did not always concur on the nature of the improvements. Panelists included Wilma Liebman, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board; Mary Joyce Carlson, counsel for the Fight for Fifteen movement; Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel for the HR Policy Association; and Adam Lupion ’01, a partner at Proskauer Rose specializing in labor and employment law.

Introducing the panel, Estreicher explained that the difficult issue of federal preemption in labor law has grown increasingly important as local and state governments have become more involved in matters related to labor relations and employment law. The panelists touched on cities’ attempts to regulate wages and employment in the absence of state or federal action, only to see their local efforts to combat income inequality preempted by state or federal law. They also looked at the need of multijurisdictional companies for uniformity and predictability in the laws governing worker-employer relations.

Posted December 12, 2017