PBI Employment Law Institute 2025: Walking the Line—An Overview of the Law of Strikes, Picketing, and Work Stoppages

Jonathan Landesman will present at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) Employment Law Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

With the historic rise in labor activism, militancy, and organizing over the last few years, more and more employers are confronting the possibility of concerted work stoppages—or strikes. Whether it is a few workers walking out to protest a manager, a “sick out,” or a full-blown strike, employers and employees can easily misstep, creating legal risk and losing bargaining power.

Co-presented by highly experienced management and labor counsel Jonathan Landesman and Joe Richardson, this session will provide an overview of the law of strikes, focusing primarily on private-sector law, and covering topics such as the difference between an “unfair labor practice strike” and an “economic strike” under the National Labor Relations Act and the regulation of “secondary” activity against neutral employers. We will also examine the limits of lawful picket line conduct, including the establishment and preservation of reserved gate systems, the limits of recognitional and organizational picketing under federal law, and how “mass picketing” is addressed with unfair labor practices and under the Pennsylvania Anti-Injunction Act.