Details (and the devil in them)

in EFCA, NLRB, organizing, representation proceedings, union elections

The NLRB has issued a fact sheet and resources links to provide guidance regarding the dramatic changes in the NLRB's election process. Before a union may represent a group of employees it must establish it is the chosen representative of an un-coerced majority of those employees. Where the issue is contested, the NLRB conducts a secret ballot election. Under the old rules an election is normally conducted between 45 and 60 days from the filing of a petition. The new rules are designed to streamline the process, eliminate an employer's ability to obtain a decision on voter eligibility before the election, and shorten the time between the filing of a petition and the conduction of the election. While this is not EFCA, it certainly advances some of the goals of the failed legislation. Details after the jump

The NLRB claims the changes are to "fix flaws" in the elections process. Seems the basic flaw addressed is the reduction of the time that employees have to engage in vigorous discussion concerning the issue of whether they want to designate a union as their representative for purposes of collective bargaining. The proposed procedures would:

Permit electronic filing of petitions, notices and voter lists.
Require service of the petition on all parties together with a description of the NLRB's elections process, and a statement of position form for identification of pre-election issues
Parties are entitled to a Notice of Hearing, and the pre-election hearing may be scheduled 7 days after notice. Its a goal for conducting post election hearings 14 days after the tally of ballots.
Parties will be required to state their position on issues before the hearing starts.
Parties could choose not to raise eligibility issues at a hearing and instead use the the challenged ballot method of determining voter eligibility.
Unless the eligibility dispute involves 20% of the bargaining unit, a decision on eligibility would be deferred until after the election.
A preliminary list of the names of the eligible voters (including names, work location, shift, and classification) must be produced at the hearing.
The pre-election Request for Review is eliminated (as well as the delay to permit it).
The Board has discretion to deny review to post election rulings (same as current discretion to deny pre-election review).
The voter eligibility list must be produced electronically and within 2 days from the direction of election or stipulation.
The voter eligibility list must contain phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
The representation procedures regulations are consolidated into one section (from three)

These deceptively small sounding adjustments will dramatically shorten the time between a union asking for an election and the election being conducted. Elections could be conducted within 10-14 days of a unions's request for one. The net effect is to assist unions who have an unlimited amount of time to conduct surreptitious organizing efforts. The employer who opposes unionization in this context barely has the opportunity to gather facts and present them to employees. Essentially labor wants an electorate onlyn it has had the opportunity to persuade.

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