Partner Level Labor and Employment Counsel
Our Labor Relations Practice
Foley & Foley, PC's Labor Relations Practice provides management-side representation and counsel across the full life cycle of the union-management relationship — from organizing campaigns and first-contract negotiations through day-to-day contract administration, grievance and interest arbitration, and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and state labor agencies. Our labor relations lawyers work alongside our broader Employment Law group, giving clients a single point of contact for every workplace issue, whether it arises under a collective bargaining agreement or under federal, state, or local employment statutes.
The practice is anchored by attorneys with decades of table experience, giving clients the benefit of judgment built over hundreds of negotiations, arbitrations, and Board proceedings — not theoretical knowledge, but pattern recognition earned across a wide range of industries, bargaining units, and union counterparts.
Practice Leadership
Michael E. Foley, Esq., Chair, Labor Relations Practice
Attorney Foley has represented employers in all aspects of employment law and labor relations for more than three decades. He began his career as a management-side labor and employment lawyer focused exclusively on labor relations, and spent the first twenty years of practice concentrated entirely on that discipline before employment law matters grew to comprise the majority of the current practice. Over that time, Attorney Foley has built one of the deeper table and arbitration records available to clients in the market, including:
- Chief Spokesperson at the collective bargaining table in several hundred negotiations, leading contract talks from proposal development through ratification.
- First Chair in several hundred grievance and interest arbitrations, presenting and defending employer positions before labor arbitrators and interest arbitration panels.
- Board Defense successfully defending clients in matters before the National Labor Relations Board and state labor relations boards on a regular, ongoing basis.
- Daily Advice & Counsel providing pragmatic, proactive labor relations guidance to clients navigating contract administration, workforce discipline, and union relationships on a day-to-day basis.
This depth of experience means clients are advised by counsel who has already seen — and resolved — the fact pattern in front of them, and who brings genuine credibility to the bargaining table and the arbitration hearing room.
A Team Built to Match That Standard
Attorney Foley leads a team of labor and employment lawyers who together maintain a robust and comprehensive Labor Relations Practice alongside the firm's broader Employment Law work. This team structure allows the practice to staff matters efficiently — senior-level strategy and table experience paired with the bench strength to manage grievance dockets, discovery-intensive arbitrations, multi-location bargaining, and Board litigation simultaneously, without sacrificing responsiveness or continuity of counsel.
Our Approach
Clients who have worked with us over the years consistently describe our approach to labor relations matters in similar terms: comforting, confidence-building, and pragmatic. We lead every labor relations matter with a top-tier level of experience, a calm demeanor, and professionalism — qualities that matter as much across the bargaining table and in the arbitration hearing room as they do in the substance of the advice itself.
That composure is backed by substance. Our deep understanding of the pertinent laws, combined with a steadfast commitment to gathering and fully understanding all pertinent bargaining-unit-related facts before we advise or advocate, is what allows us to deliver results that are both pragmatic and effective. Clients come away not only with sound outcomes, but with genuine confidence in how those outcomes were reached.
Scope of Services
Our Labor Relations Practice advises employers across the full range of labor-management matters, including:
Collective Bargaining
- Serving as chief spokesperson or lead strategist at the bargaining table
- Developing bargaining strategy, proposal packages, and cost analyses
- First-contract negotiations following a successful union organizing campaign
- Multi-unit, multi-location, and coalition/multi-employer bargaining
- Interest-based and traditional bargaining approaches
Grievance & Arbitration
- Grievance investigation, response, and step-level handling
- First-chair representation in labor and interest arbitrations
- Contract interpretation disputes and past-practice analysis
- Arbitrability challenges and enforcement or vacatur of arbitration awards
NLRB & State Labor Board Proceedings
- Unfair labor practice charge defense and settlement
- Representation petitions, election campaigns, and voter eligibility disputes
- Decertification and deauthorization petitions
- Appeals and litigation before regional offices, the Board, and reviewing courts
Union Organizing & Campaign Response
- Vulnerability assessments and proactive positive employee relations counseling
- Lawful campaign communications and supervisor training during organizing drives
- Election-day strategy and post-election proceedings
Labor Relations Counseling & Contract Administration
- Day-to-day advice on discipline, discharge, and just-cause analysis in a unionized workforce
- Collective bargaining agreement interpretation and administration
- Labor-management committee facilitation and grievance-reduction strategies
- Strike, lockout, and work-stoppage contingency planning
- Labor due diligence and successorship planning in mergers, acquisitions, and outsourcing
- Training for HR professionals and front-line supervisors on labor relations fundamentals and contract compliance
Why Clients Choose This Practice
- A Calm, Confidence-Building Presence: Clients consistently describe our approach as comforting and confidence-building — a steady, professional presence at the table and in the hearing room, not just in the advice we give.
- Decades of Table Experience: Leadership with hundreds of negotiations and arbitrations behind them, bringing pattern recognition that shortens the learning curve on every new matter.
- Integrated Labor & Employment Counsel: A single team handles both collective bargaining relationships and the full range of employment law issues, eliminating gaps and duplicated effort between disciplines.
- Proactive, Practical Advice: A daily-counseling orientation aimed at preventing disputes — grievances, unfair labor practice charges, and arbitrations — before they arise, not just defending them after the fact.
- Depth on Demand: A full team of labor relations lawyers capable of scaling to multi-location bargaining, high-volume grievance dockets, or Board litigation without disruption to ongoing client service.
Let’s Talk About Your Labor Relations Needs
Whether you are preparing for an upcoming round of negotiations, facing a grievance or arbitration, responding to an organizing campaign, or simply want a proactive labor relations partner for day-to-day counsel, our team is ready to help.