News Notes: NLRB Removes Union Protection In Company Takeovers

The National Labor Relations Board has overturned one of its prior rulings that gave unions some protection from challenge when a nonunionized employer acquires a unionized company. Under the previous rule, unions could bargain with the new, nonunion employer free from challenge for a reasonable length of time after the takeover. Now, the NLRB has ruled that a union’s status as the workers’ representative can immediately be challenged in a takeover situation and there is no grace period. The NLRB says that its new standard restores the balance between employees’ freedom of choice and maintaining stable collective bargaining relationships.