For nearly 25 years, Peter B. Ajalat has dedicated his legal career to one practice area: traditional labor law. Since 2004, Peter has exclusively represented management, however, his experience is unique because he previously was on “the other side of the table.” As the former general counsel to a large New York City Teamsters union, Peter prides himself on knowing “how the other side thinks,” and on his ability to provide an invaluable perspective to his clients. Peter also was in-house labor counsel to a global industrial manufacturing company. Peter maintains a national and local practice representing employers of all sizes in all aspects of labor and employment law including vast experience with:
- Collective bargaining, having negotiated hundreds of labor contracts, including multi-employer and large scale negotiations
- Labor arbitrations, grievance and contract administration
- Multi-employer benefit plans
- Union organizing drives and National Labor Relations Board elections and hearings
- Unfair labor practice charges hearings
- Strikes and other labor dispute management and litigation
- Proactive positive employee relations training, vulnerability assessments and union campaign preparedness
- Proactive management training related to harassment, discrimination, investigations and other employment laws
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Plant closings, reorganizations and relocations
- Subcontracting
- Reductions in force
- Labor and employment counseling
- Drug and alcohol testing
- Work rules and policies
Peter regularly represents clients in the following industries: waste management, ready mix concrete and other construction, refining, oil and gas, food manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, trucking, transportation and school busing, warehousing, retail, lumber and other construction supply distribution, and beer distribution.
Additionally, since 2005, Peter has served as professional employer trustee to multi-employer pension and welfare benefit plans, and has extensive experience with the full panoply of benefit issues arising with regard to such plans including benefit plan administration, pension withdrawal liability, rehabilitation plans, and employer contributions, delinquencies and audits.
Since 2017, Peter has served as the Co-Office Managing Shareholder of the dynamic Newark, New Jersey Office, an office of 30 attorneys. Peter also has served on various committees at Littler including the Good Business Practices Committee, Associate Relations Committee and Corporate Governance Committee.
Prior to joining Littler in 2006, Peter was a partner with a full service law firm and of counsel at a regional labor and employment law boutique. Peter simultaneously functioned as in-house labor counsel to a Fortune 500 corporation from 2005 to 2008. From 1996 to 2004, Peter served as Associate General Counsel and General Counsel to a New York City-based Teamsters local union and its affiliated benefit plans.
In law school, he was a member of the Seton Hall Constitutional Law Journal and participated in the Seton Hall Consumer Law Clinic.
