Today, the National Labor Relations Board advanced a pro-union rule on ambush elections. From The Hill:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted Wednesday to move forward with portions of a controversial union election rule after the board’s lone Republican member showed up to register his opposition.

The two Democratic members of the labor board, Chairman Mark Pearce and Craig Becker, voted to advance the proposal, while Brian Hayes, a Republican, voted no.

The wildcard of Wednesday’s vote was Hayes, who has threatened to resign over the union election rule. Speculation swirled this week that Hayes might torpedo Wednesday’s action by making good on his threat to quit, or by simply refusing to participate.

The labor board is now expected to finalize the rule.

The board, with two open seats, voted "only on portions [of the rule] that would limit litigation surrounding union elections."

Like the proposed rule, the proposal voted on today is still a solution in search of a problem. Existing election rules have worked extremely well in the vast majority of cases and elections are held promptly. Nevertheless, today the Board is seeking to dramatically shorten the election time period for all cases, something organized labor has long sought because it means employees will have less time to hear any point of view other than the union's.