Federal judge in Texas blocks US labor board rule that would make it easier for workers to unionize

A federal judge in Texas has blocked a new rule by the National Labor Relations Board that would have made it easier for millions of workers to form unions at big companies. The new rule would have expanded that definition to say companies may be considered joint employers if they have the ability to control — directly or indirectly — at least one condition of employment. They argued the new rule would upend years of precedent and could make companies liable for workers they don’t employ at workplaces they don’t own. In his decision Friday granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a summary judgement, U.S. District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker concluded that the NLRB’s new rule would be “contrary to law” and that it was “arbitrary and capricious” in regard to how it would change the existing rule.