Robert W. Sikkel

Bob’s experience included the representation of employers throughout the country on the wide range of labor law issues that arise in a unionized work environment. He represented employers before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and other similar agencies, as well as provided advice during union organizing efforts and representation elections. In addition, he negotiated collective bargaining agreements, handled unfair labor practice charges and arbitrated claims under collective bargaining agreements. Bob’s experience included extensive work in the healthcare industry representing hospitals and medical centers and other healthcare entities in collective bargaining, labor arbitration, and other labor and employment law issues.

Bob also advised employers on other issues and claims involving both union-represented employees and non-union employees. This included labor strategies for mergers and acquisitions, EEOC and state agency charges of discrimination, OFCCP and FMLA matters, and hiring, discipline and termination.

In addition, Bob helped non-unionized employers maintain their union-free status through the development of union-free strategies and tactics. He worked diligently with employers to implement preventive measures that can address employee concerns and foster a positive work environment, in addition to advising on hiring practices and designing supervisor training programs that focus on mitigating the potential for union organizing.

Because experience is everything when dealing with unions, Bob’s more than four decades of practice in this area of the law allowed him to help clients address and overcome even the most difficult problems and threats to their bottom line. Whether his client was unionized or union-free, he focused on the complex ways in which an employer’s obligations to deal with a union intersect with the employment rights and obligations that exist in all work environments.

He is a contributing author for Covenants Not to Compete: Duty of Loyalty, Trade Secrets and Tortious Interference, published by the American Bar Association and BNA. He is a frequent author, speaker and trainer, labor and employment issues, with articles published in the Practical Litigator and HR Advisor.