- Traditional Labor Law Attorney
Traditional Labor Law Attorney for California Employers
Union activity moves fast, and the employer’s first response often sets the tone for everything that follows. Whether it is an organizing drive, a bargaining cycle, or an unfair labor practice charge, an experienced labor relations attorney on the management side changes the outcome. Call Karin Backstrom before you respond.
- HR Legal Advisory
Management-Side Labor Relations Representation in California
A traditional labor law attorney, also called a labor relations attorney, represents the employer in its relationship with organized labor: union organizing drives, collective bargaining, contract administration, grievances, and proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board. Karin Backstrom represents California private-sector employers across these labor relations matters personally, from the first union contact through contract and dispute resolution.
Backstrom Labor Law is employer-side only. There is no scenario where the firm sits across the table from an employer it might otherwise advise.
Collective Bargaining and Union Negotiations
Collective bargaining is the process by which an employer and a union negotiate the terms and conditions of employment: wages, hours, benefits, discipline, and grievance procedures. California private-sector employers bargain under the NLRA, which imposes a good-faith obligation on both sides. Meeting that obligation without conceding more than the contract requires is a management-side discipline.
As a collective bargaining attorney for employers, Karin represents employers at the bargaining table, advises on proposal strategy, drafts contract language, and administers the agreement once it is in place, including the grievance and arbitration process when disputes arise under an existing contract.
Union Organizing and Unfair Labor Practice Defense
During an organizing drive, an employer can communicate factually and lawfully with employees about unionization, but cannot threaten, interrogate, promise benefits, or surveil organizing activity. The line between lawful employer communication and an unfair labor practice under the NLRA is fact-specific and consequential, so counsel should be involved before the employer communicates anything to employees about the drive.
An unfair labor practice (ULP) charge is a formal complaint filed with the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that an employer violated the Act. Karin advises employers on lawful conduct throughout the organizing process, responds to ULP charges, and represents employers in NLRB proceedings as their NLRB defense attorney.
For California public-sector employers, the equivalent agency is PERB, the Public Employment Relations Board, which operates under separate rules and remedies. Backstrom Labor Law represents private-sector employers before the NLRB.
Labor Dispute Management
When bargaining stalls or tensions rise, the employer needs a plan that protects operations and stays within the law. Karin advises on managing strikes, lockouts, picketing, and work stoppages, along with the grievance and arbitration disputes that arise under an existing labor agreement.
- Before You React.
What You Say Now Can't Be Taken Back.
During an organizing drive, a single manager’s comment can become an unfair labor practice. The rules apply before anyone speaks. Talk to Karin before your business responds.
- Engagement
How Working With Backstrom Labor Law Begins
01
Immediate consultation within 48 hours
Karin reviews your situation directly, an organizing drive, a bargaining cycle, a ULP charge, or the ongoing labor relations counsel you want to build, and gives an honest read on where you stand.
02
Assessment
She reviews the active matter, the existing labor agreement, or your labor relations posture against current NLRA and California law, and identifies the risks and viable options.
03
Strategy and action plan
You get business-ready recommendations, whether a bargaining strategy, a response to an organizing drive, or a defense to a ULP charge, with specific next steps.
04
Ongoing advisory or matter-specific engagement
Keep Karin on retainer for ongoing labor counsel, or engage for a specific matter. The same attorney is available if a matter escalates to the NLRB or to litigation.
- The California Reality
Why California Labor Relations Demand Management-Side Counsel
California labor relations are not federal labor law with a state label attached. Between the NLRA, the NLRB, and California’s own agencies and pro-labor climate, the details that determine employer exposure are easy to miss without focused experience.
NLRA good-faith bargaining
the obligation runs both ways, and a misstep at the table can become a refusal-to-bargain charge.
NLRB versus PERB
private-sector employers answer to the NLRB, while California public-sector employers answer to PERB, under separate rules and remedies.
Organizing conduct is tightly regulated
what a manager says during a drive can become an unfair labor practice, so the rules matter before anyone speaks.
California's labor climate
the state's environment is among the most union-friendly in the country, which raises the cost of an unadvised misstep.
When a business attorney who handles labor work on the side takes a California labor matter, the details are where exposure accumulates. Twenty-six years of exclusive California employer-side practice means fewer misses and faster pattern recognition on the situations that recur.
- Why Choose Us
Why California Employers Choose Backstrom Labor Law
Senior credentials at boutique access. Employer-only alignment. Preventive counsel and litigation defense under one attorney, with no relationship reset if the matter escalates.
A one-attorney boutique where the attorney you work with is the attorney handling your case every day, not a promise layered over a large-firm billing structure.
From collective bargaining and NLRB proceedings to the individual employment claims that often follow, handled personally.
In California state courts, U.S. District Court, and before every major state and federal agency. Pattern recognition from real matters.
Karin's prior career at Littler Mendelson and Sheppard Mullin brought senior-tier labor and employment depth without the institutional billing overhead.
For the PHR and SPHR certifying body. Curriculum-level instruction that means she understands how workplace decisions read under legal scrutiny.
A clear read on exposure and a plan you can act on today, not a 15-page memo cataloging every theoretical risk.
- Common Questions
Questions California Employers Ask About Labor Law
A traditional labor law attorney represents the employer in its relationship with organized labor: union organizing drives, collective bargaining, contract administration, NLRB proceedings, and unfair labor practice defense. The focus is the employer's rights and obligations under the National Labor Relations Act. Individual employment claims, such as discrimination or wage and hour disputes, are handled as separate services.
Labor law governs the relationship between employers and organized groups of workers: unions, collective bargaining, and the NLRA. Employment law governs the individual employer-employee relationship: discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, and wage and hour compliance. California employers often face both, which is why it helps to have one attorney who can handle each through the same relationship.
Any California employer facing a union organizing drive, a collective bargaining cycle, or an NLRB unfair labor practice charge needs labor counsel immediately, because the earliest decisions carry the most consequence. Employers without union activity generally do not need traditional labor counsel, though many keep an ongoing employer-side relationship for the employment matters that do arise.
An employer can communicate factually and lawfully with employees about the effects of unionization, but cannot threaten, interrogate, promise benefits, or surveil organizing activity. The line between lawful communication and an unfair labor practice under the NLRA is fact-specific and consequential, so counsel should be involved before the employer communicates anything to employees about the drive.
An unfair labor practice charge is a formal complaint filed with the NLRB alleging that an employer or union violated the National Labor Relations Act. Common employer ULP charges involve interference with organizing activity, refusal to bargain in good faith, or retaliation against employees for protected concerted activity. A ULP finding can result in remedial orders, back pay obligations, and posting requirements.
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