T
he National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued
the most sweeping changes to its union election
procedures in more than 50 years. The changes
are designed to dramatically speed up elections and will
clearly work to the advantage of union organizers. At the
same time, local area governments have enacted new laws
imposing new regulatory burdens on most employers
including, particularly, the construction industry. This
article highlights the biggest changes that all contractors
need to be aware of.
THE NLRB’S NEW “QUICKIE” ELECTION RULE
In December 2014, after several years of delay, the NLRB
adopted controversial changes to its election processing
rules. There are more than a dozen procedural rule changes
in all, and they are uniformly aimed at shortening the time
between the filing of a union petition and the conduct of
an election. The new rule is scheduled to go into effect on
April 14, 2015, unless it can be stopped in the courts or in
Congress. Two lawsuits have been filed challenging the
new election rule, including one by Associated Builders and
Contractors (ABC).
In addition to shortening the election time period following
a union petition, the new NLRB rule will require employers
to produce new and burdensome information before
any hearing is held, again within strict time limits; NLRB
regional directors will have broad rights to exclude evidence
from being presented on voter eligibility questions; and
employee privacy rights will be infringed by disclosure of
phone numbers and personal email addresses to unions.
Most importantly, employers will no longer have time to
communicate with their own employees before a union
election is held, in as few as 15-20 days after a petition is filed.
It remains to be seen whether the new election rules
can be stopped from going into effect on April 14. In the
meantime, employers should prepare for an increase in
union organizing. It will be more important than ever for
employers to prepare rapid response plans for dealing with
union election petitions under the new NLRB rules.
MORE BAD RULINGS COMING
FROM THE NLRB AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
In
another
long-awaited
decision
called
Purple
Communications
, the NLRB held for the first time that
employees must be allowed to use company email systems
to solicit co-workers in favor of unions. The Board overruled
decades of case law by declaring that employer private
property rights to control their own email systems must
now give way to union organizing.
By Maury Baskin, Esq.
Big Changes
Announced in Federal
and Local Labor Laws
Building Washington 23
LEGAL REVIEW
