On September 5, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law what is dubbed a “NLRB Trigger Bill” amending the New York State Labor Relations Act. The statute itself is hardly a model of clarity, but its sponsors describe it as an effort to expand the jurisdiction of New York’s Public Employment Relations Board (“PERB”) to fill the gap at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”), which currently lacks a quorum and as a result in unable to fully act.

PERB primarily oversees public-sector employers in New York, but also regulates labor relations for private-sector employers within New York where neither the Railway Labor Act nor NLRA provide coverage (such as for agricultural workers.)

Prior to the new statute, the New York Labor Relations Act expressly excluded any employer covered by the NLRA. The plain text of the new law – which takes effect immediately – limits that exemption, such that the law allows PERB to act with respect to a private-sector employer when the NLRB does not successfully assert jurisdiction pursuant to an order issued by an Article III federal court over any “employer, employees, trades or industries.”

The phrasing is quite odd, given that the federal courts generally do not have any rule on the NLRB asserting or not asserting jurisdiction, at least in the first instance before an appeal. Moreover, there is no explanation whatsoever as to how to determine when the Board has or has not asserted such jurisdiction. There simply appears to be a complete disregard for the NLRB’s processes – which require multiple preliminary steps at the regional and/or administrative law judge level before the impact of the lack of a Board quorum is even felt.

This confusion is unlikely to last long, as any effort by a state to regulate private-sector labor relations is highly likely to be preempted by federal law under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in San Diego Bldg. Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959). Indeed, on September 11, NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cowen announced that his office intends to immediately sue to block enforcement of the New York law, because it is an attack on the Board’s “core jurisdiction.” While there are certainly questions about the NLRB’s standing in such a suit, whether it is in this litigation or another brought by impacted employers, we can expect significant litigation seeking to nullify this state attempt at infringing on federal jurisdiction.

We will, of course, be monitoring all future developments with the New York law, as well as in states like California and Massachusetts considering analogous legislation, including the nearly certain legal challenge forthcoming by the NLRB Office of the General Counsel.