Over opposition from the business community, the National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-1 vote, advanced portions of a proposal to speed up union elections November 30.  Final approval could come by the end of the year.
 
The NLRB voted to discard the current investigative hearing format and replace it with a litigation-like model that would require an employer to file a position statement in seven days or less following the filing of a union petition. The NLRB originally proposed a more sweeping union election rule, provisions of which could still come up for a future vote, according to the NLRB.

“Like the original proposed rule, the amended proposal is still a solution in search of a problem,” wrote the U.S. Chamber’s Mike Eastman on the Chamberpost blog. “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.”

Meanwhile, House lawmakers fought back against the NLRB vote, approving a Republican-backed bill that would delay any vote on a union for at least 35 days after a petition is filed by workers. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094) was introduced by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) and strongly supported by the Chamber.

In a October 26 letter to Congress, the Chamber wrote, “Since efforts in previous Congresses to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) have failed, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has been working to enact similarly radical changes to America’s labor laws through the administrative process. H.R. 3094 would provide for fair representation hearing processes and would also guarantee that employees have ample opportunity to hear both sides of the unionization debate before casting their ballots in a representation election.”

Send your own letter to Congress in support of the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act.