The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is set to hear opinions on its proposed changes to the rules governing union representation elections during hearings on April 10-11. The meetings can be seen in their entirety at www.nlrb.gov/openmeeting.
The hearings will begin at 9:00 a.m. (ET) at the Board’s Washington, D.C., offices. Speakers had to submit requests ahead of time and already have been determined.
Foes of the Board’s proposed rule have dubbed it the “quickie” or “ambush” election rule because, among other things, it would shorten the time between a petition for a union election and the vote. The proposed changes mirror amendments that were first presented in June 2011. Those amendments took effect in 2012, but they were struck down later that year when a federal district court judge deemed them invalid because the NLRB lacked a quorum when the rules were presented.
The Board has said the regulations should be changed to streamline union elections and prevent unnecessary litigation, but opponents see the changes as giving unions an unfair advantage during organizing campaigns.
The proposed rule appeared in the Federal Register on February 6. The period for the public to submit comments ended on April 7.
The proposed reforms would:
- Allow for electronic filing and transmission of election petitions and other documents;
- Ensure that employees, employers, and unions receive and exchange timely information needed to understand and participate in the representation case process;
- Streamline pre- and postelection procedures to facilitate agreement and eliminate unnecessary litigation;
- Include telephone numbers and e-mail addresses in voter lists to enable parties to communicate with voters using modern technology; and
- Consolidate all election-related appeals to the NLRB into a single postelection appeals process.
An NLRB fact sheet includes a side-by-side comparison of the current rules and the proposed amendments.