Employers concerned about the NLRB’s new “ambush” election rules have rightfully protested that the new procedures make it easier and faster for unions to hold an election certifying the union as the exclusive bargaining representative of employees. On April 14, 2015, the day the new rules became effective, The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion page asked – probably in jest –
“How About Quickie Decertification Votes?
The NLRB has decided that elections to unionize a workplace can take place two weeks after the paper work is filed. Will the same time frame applies to elections to decertify a union?”
Actually, they do. Just as employees can petition to hold an election to become a unionized workforce, they can also petition for an election to become a non-union workforce. This is called a decertification petition. (The National Right to Work Foundation has an excellent discussion of the decertification process – here.) 29 C.F.R. 102.83 through 102.88 contain the National Labor Relations Board’s procedure for decertifying a union. Section 102.86 states the Board shall follow the same process in decertification elections as it does in certification elections. In other words, most – if not all – of the same new rules that employers find objectionable when faced with a unionization campaign can be utilized during a desertification effort.
In his Memorandum of Disapproval rejecting the Senate’s resolution that sought to block the new election rules, President Obama stated “[w]orkers deserve a level playing field that lets them freely choose to make their voices heard, and this requires fair and streamlined procedures for determining whether to have unions as their bargaining representative.” I am glad that the right of employees to be free of clutch of big union bosses enjoys the support of the President.
Wally Zimolong
Wally represents contractors (and subcontractors) and developers. His clients build and develop residential, commercial, and industrial properties nationwide. Wally enjoys working with the owners of the businesses he represents because they tend to be entrepreneurs and all around interesting people.
