On 24 August 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized a rule that will shorten the time for folks to call for a union election.  IT also removes the discretion that had been afforded the various NLRB directors to delay hearings.

The new rule cuts the time between petition and election for a union.  As such, it requires folks to share election information to the employees more quickly, and ensures that the elections are not subject to delays.

While the rule was finalized on 24 August, it takes effective on 26 December 2023.  (That is the normal 90 day period before a rule become final.)  IT is expected that this ruling will mean that union votes will take place 23 days after petition; right now that time frame is closer to 37 days.

Up until recently employers fired pro-union workers, threatened to close facilities that were considering unionization, cross-examined employees to discern their union sentiments, and used security guards to intimidate workers.  All those activities are no longer tolerable under this new ruling.

In other words, after decades of weakening and adulterating the NLRB ability to regulate union votes, the tide has turned.   That’s what the Biden administration has done- and this ruling was approved via a 3 to 1 NLRB vote.

Under NLRB rules that have obtained since 1935, when a majority of workers have indicated they want a union affiliation, the employer had two choices- recognize the union immediately and being bargaining or request that the NLRB run a union representation election.  It was during that latter period that manifold accusations of unfair labor practices were submitted.

The NLRB had already ruled that if a company undermines the fairness of the vote, it would no longer set up a second course of elections.  Instead, the penalty for unfair practices now requires the firm to recognize and bargain with the union.  (In other words, it assumes the union had already won the secret ballot with which the company interfered.)

(Note that if the GOP takes the White House in 2024, you can bet they will take action to undo this change in regulations That is true despite the fact that public sentiment about unions has changed dramatically-  67% now view unions in a positive light, despite that only 10.1% of the workforce is  unionized. That’s down from the 20% unionized workforce of some 30 years ago.)

Of course, the anti-union forces (such as the National Right to Work Foundation (NWRF) which is based in the Commonwealth of Virginia) is up in arms.  Mark Mix, president of the NRWF, avers “the Biden NLRB has plumbed new lows by shamefully but unsurprisingly tossing out workers’ individual rights and granting Big Labor a blank check to force workers under its so-called ‘representation.’”  And, then there is the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (don’t you love the nomenclature machinations ) which claims this new rule denigrates the rights of employees to participate in a secret election.  (Um, yes, only when the employer employs unfair labor practices,  If it doesn’t, then there is a secret ballot.  Now, who’s fault is it again?)

The question now is will the unions revive membership nationwide.  Right now, most union members are government employees.  The manufacturing, shipping, and construction sectors need to join in as union members, or the union concept will not grow to match the positive sentiments folks have about the concept.

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