Howard L. Bernstein is a partner in Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Labor & Employment Practice Group and is a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Howard represents employers throughout the U.S. in labor relations and employment law matters and employment-related litigation, with an emphasis on contract negotiations, arbitrations and injunction proceedings, NLRB election campaigns, unfair labor practice cases and employment discrimination matters.

From 1970 to 1972, Howard was counsel to the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. Later, he served as special outside labor counsel to the City of Chicago. In that capacity, he was the chief labor negotiator in the city’s negotiations with all of the unions representing the city’s employees. He has also served as outside labor counsel and chief negotiator for the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Housing Authority.

Howard provides labor and employment counsel on behalf of health care clients and served as chief labor negotiator for a multi-employer association of more than 100 nursing homes.

A member of the American Bar Association Labor Law Section, he was the program chairman of its Committee on Development of the Law Under the National Labor Relations Act. He also served as a member of the Labor Relations Council of the Illinois State Bar Association, as well as the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce Human Resources Committee. Howard is the Chairman of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners for the City of Highwood.

Howard is on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Management Institute and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Howard is a frequent speaker and lecturer on a variety of labor and employment topics, including “Dealing With Unions With Confidence,” “Keys To Effective Enforcement and Administration of Union Contracts,” “Top 10 Ways To Be An Effective Manager of a Unionized Facility,” “10 Steps To Increasing Your Chances of Winning a Union Election,” “What’s A Prospective Purchaser To Do About A Seller’s Union Contract?” and “10 Steps to Winning at Arbitration.”

Significant Representations

• Represented worldwide meat packing company in numerous union organizing drives and NLRB unfair labor practice cases, including a multi-plant nationwide corporate campaign involving United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).
• Served as special labor counsel and chief labor negotiator for the City of Chicago in negotiating union contracts with all unions representing City of Chicago employees, including the SEIU, AFSCME, Coalition of Construction Trades Unions, Firefighters and Fraternal Order of Police.
• Served as labor counsel to private equity firms regarding the labor aspects of acquisitions of businesses, including the negotiating of favorable new union contracts containing substantial changes in work rules, compensation and benefits.
• Represented nationwide transportation company in multi-city, multi-facility attempt by Teamsters Union to "raid" 1,000 employee bargaining unit from the Machinists Union
• Represented the Chicago Board of Education in negotiating with the Chicago Teachers Union a new collective bargaining agreement containing a two-year salary freeze, significant increase in teaching time, and the first-ever employee contribution to health care costs.
• Represented multi-employer association of health care facilities in negotiations with the SEIU for a collective bargaining agreement covering more than 100 facilities and 7,000 employees.
• Represented major retail chain in negotiating the successful closure of two distribution facilities and the transfer of work to two modern, efficient distribution centers, resulting in the company's ability to serve its retail stores in a substantially less costly, more efficient manner.
• Represented Midwest processor and distributor of grain products in contract negotiations with UFCW and lockout lasting more than one year.
• Represented various employers throughout the country in industries such as transportation, retailing, health care, manufacturing, food processing, and distribution in union organizing drives, decertifications, and NLRB proceedings against unions including the Teamsters, Machinists, UFCW, SEIU, Steelworkers, Electrical Workers, and others.
• Represented major appliance manufacturer in suit in federal court to vacate unfavorable arbitration award.
• Represented companies in dealing with the unions and in the labor aspects of bankruptcy proceedings.

Honors:

• Named in 2002 as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, a non-profit professional association honoring the leading lawyers nationwide in the practice of labor and employment.
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (recommended in “Labor & Employment”) 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 editions
• Named for inclusion within The Best Lawyers in America 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 editions (within Labor & Employment )
• Named as one of the “Top One Hundred Labor Attorneys” in the U.S. for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the Labor Relations Institute, an honor representing the top one percent of labor attorneys in the country.
• Included in Super Lawyers 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 editions

• Texas, 1968
• Illinois, 1973

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. Supreme Court

• University of Texas (The) (B.B.A., 1965)
• University of Texas School of Law (The) (J.D., 1968)