The National Labor Relations Board, the agency responsible for creating and enforcing rules and regulations governing collective action and unions has passed a new rule that would allow unions to form in as little as 2 weeks.
Organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Association of Manufacturers, and the US Chamber of Commerce oppose the ruling and have filed a lawsuit.
In a press release sent to the HTN, National Retail Federation Vice President David French vows to “…continue to challenge the NLRB in Congress and in the courts”.
The rule itself is designed to provide a more streamlined process for employees who wish to have the NLRB conduct an election on their behalf to determine if they can unionize. In most cases, the election procedures are conducted based on prior negotiations between employers and unionizing employees, and parties have to agree on voting units and other issues.
The new rules taking effect include other changes that are designed to streamline union voting procedures, including modernizing the NLRB filing procedures by allowing both employers and unions to file documents electronically, rather than by snail mail, mandating that employers share election voter lists, and their email addresses to expedite the process of voting.
Some of the changes are aimed to decrease unnecessary litigation by adding more transparency and due diligence to the voting process. The changes provide standard operating procedures for early identification of disputed issues, deferral of union eligibility disputes to the post-election stage, and providing for oral argument sessions before close of NLRB hearings.
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a procedures fact sheet to interested parties seeking to know more.
