Labor Law

Hughes & Costello has three attorneys that practice in the area of union-side labor law. Our firm represents several local and national union labor organizations, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local No. 120, IBT Joint Council 32, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, and the pre-merger Northwest Airlines Pilots' Red Book Merger Committee, and act as general counsel to the IBT General Secretary-Treasurer.

Our firm's attorneys are deeply committed to the labor movement and to the betterment of conditions for working men and women. Hughes and Costello is proud to support the efforts of local unions in their efforts to organize workers in both the public and private sectors. We provide valuable assistance to local unions by offering informative and instructive seminars about new and evolving issues in labor law, about collective bargaining and contract enforcement, and about other issues of importance to rank-and-file union members, such as commercial driver's licensing rules. To see representative samples of materials presented in these areas, please visit our Labor Law Publications page.

Hughes & Costello has a wide-ranging labor law practice, including collective bargaining and general advice on contract interpretation and administration; grievance and interest arbitrations; representation and unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and similar state agencies; proceedings before other federal and state agencies (such as the EEOC, U.S. Department of Transportation, OSHA, the U.S. Department of Labor, and similar state agencies); litigation at the trial and appellate level on behalf of unions and their members in the state and federal courts; assistance with matters of internal union affairs; advice to unions in connection with the negotiation and administration of collectively-bargained employee benefit plans, and litigation relating to such plans; and the representation of unions and employees in matters arising from mergers, acquisitions, asset sales and other business transactions. In all of these matters, Hughes & Costello strives to not only prevail in the immediate proceeding, but to serve the larger institutional goals of the union and the trade union movement.

Our firm does not handle employment law matters, such as job discrimination; if you are experiencing a problem in that or a similar area of law, please contact the Minnesota State Bar Association (or your local bar association) to obtain a referral to a lawyer near you.