But it would still set the /precedent/ that you can lawfully shed troublesome employees who you could otherwise not fire by changing the ownership structure of a company.

#1 by itself is not illegal. When companies move a factory overseas they also just fire everybody. Not nice, but not illegal.

> #1 by itself is not illegal. When companies move a factory overseas they also just fire everybody. Not nice, but not illegal.

It's not illegal in se, but it is illegal if it's done in order to retaliate against employees for organizing, in order to target union employees, in order to undermine a union, etc.

There's a question of enforcement, and there's the challenge of proving that to the requisite legal standard. But assuming the facts are established, it's actually a very clear violation of the NLRA.