News Notes: NLRB Ruling Makes It Harder To Withdraw Union Recognition

In an important ruling for unionized employers, the National Labor Relations Board has overturned 50 years of precedent and changed the rules for employers who wish to withdraw recognition of a union that may have lost majority support. Under the old rule, an employer could withdraw recognition based on a good-faith belief that the union had lost majority support. Now, in a decision involving Levitz Furniture in San Francisco, the NLRB has held that an employer can withdraw recognition of an incumbent union only if it can prove that the union has in fact lost majority support. And the board underscored that decertification elections are the preferred means of testing employees’ support for the union.