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NLRB seeks to shorten union election time frame
Proposal continues agency's pattern of anti-business rulemaking
Continuing a disturbing pattern of anti-business decision making and rulemaking, the National Labor Relations Board proposes to revise representation case procedures -- the procedures governing the conduct of elections to determine whether a unit of employees wishes to be represented by a union.
Under current NLRB practice and procedure, employers typically have several weeks between the date that a petition for an election is filed and the actual date of the union representation election. Employers will often use this period to communicate with their employees and, in accordance with certain restrictions, campaign in opposition to the union. The NLRB's proposed rules, however, seek to streamline the NLRB election process and, in effect, shorten the amount of time for employers to mount such an opposition campaign. Under the NLRB's proposal, elections that once took weeks could now be held within 10 days.
Bryan Hayes, a member of the NLRB, objected to the proposed rule changes, noting that employers will not be provided with sufficient time to communicate their position on unionization and collective bargaining. Specifically, he stated that "the principal purpose for this radical manipulation of our election process is to minimize, or rather, effectively eviscerate an employers' legitimate opportunity to express its views about collective bargaining."
The proposed rule is available here.
In the year following the rejection of union card check legislation, which sought to eliminate the private union organizing ballot process and would have subjected employers to binding arbitration for union contracts, the NLRB has proposed a number of regulations that are decidedly anti-business in scope, and that threaten private-sector job creation and economic recovery. Limiting employer input in the union election process is just one of NLRB’s nods to the interests of organized labor.
The PA Chamber encourages Pennsylvania’s job creators to share their concerns about this proposed regulation with the NLRB. The comment period runs through Aug. 21.
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The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state’s largest broad-based business association, with thousands of statewide members representing businesses of all sizes and all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business™. More information is available on the Chamber’s website at www.pachamber.org.
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