New 'quickie' union election rules coming from NLRB

Despite a joint resolution of disapproval from Congress, two pending lawsuits, and objections from many employers and business groups, controversial new election rules from the National Labor Relations Board are still on track to take effect on April 14, 2015.

President Obama, in a memorandum supporting his veto of the Congressional resolution, called the new rules "modest but overdue reforms to simplify and streamline private sector union elections."

House Speaker John Boehner, however, denounced the new rules an "an assault on the rights and privacy protections of American workers."

Regardless of your political or union affiliation, these new rules present a huge shift in how union organizing and labor relations will be conducted moving forward.

Commonly referred to as "quickie election" rules, the NLRB's new rules significantly shorten the period between the date an employer receives an election petition from a union and the actual election date that bargaining unit employees vote on union representation.

Currently, this "campaign" period lasts an average of 38 days. Under the new election rules, an election could be conducted in as few as 13 days after the employer's receipt of the petition, and as few as 10 in certain circumstances.

It is widely accepted that the longer a union election campaign lasts, the more likely it becomes that an employer will win.

Employers chalk this up to the fact that they have more time to educate their employees about the realities of unionization; unions contend that this "education" sometimes borders on harassment or coercion.

With a shorter election period, unions believe that they will be able to better harness the momentum of their pre-petition organizing efforts and limit employers' ability to wage an effective election campaign.

Employers who are unprepared for a union petition could find themselves halfway to an election before they even catch their breath.

Simply put, these rules, along with other recent significant policy shifts by the NLRB, are making it easier for employees to organize and harder for employers to curtail such efforts.

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

— Benjamin Franklin

For employers, failing to prepare for a union organizing campaign or election now could lead to an election loss and a unionized workforce sooner than they might think.

This Week's Nextpert

Benjamin Mudrick is an attorney at the law firm Harter Secrest & Emery LLP and a member of their Labor and Employment practice group.

Interested in being a Nextpert? Email: RocNext@Democratand

Chronicle.com

What to expect

In addition to a shorter election period and among other things, the new rules also:

• Require employers to provide more detailed, personal information about employees to the union so that the union can more easily contact them during the election campaign;

• Limit the issues or objections that parties can raise during the pre-election hearing; and

• Restrict the parties' ability to challenge NLRB determination and election results.