National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has released a summary of the board's activities during Fiscal Year 2012. Here are some details he selected for emphasis:
- 93.9% of all initial union elections were conducted within 56 days of the filing of the petition.
- Initial elections in union representation elections were conducted in a median of 38 days from the filing of the petition.
- A 91.0% settlement rate was achieved in the regional offices in meritorious unfair labor practice cases.
- 97% of the 37 10(j) petitions litigated in federal district court resulted in a satisfactory settlement or substantial victory.
- The regional offices won 90.1% of board and administrative law judge unfair labor practice and compliance decisions in whole or in part in FY 2012.
- 94.5% of the 73 Board decisions under review by the U.S. Courts of Appeals were enforced or affirmed in whole or in part.
- A total of $44,316,059 was recovered on behalf of employees as back pay or reimbursement of fees, dues, and fines. 1,241 employees were offered reinstatement.
- The agency exceeded two of its three ambitious overarching goals and came close to achieving the third, closing 84.5% of all representation cases within 100 days (target 85.2%), 72.7% of all unfair labor practice cases within 120 days (target 72.0%), and 83.8% of all meritorious unfair labor practice cases within 365 days (target 80.3%). The target for each 2012 overarching goal was higher than in FY 2011 and the goal for the percentage of meritorious unfair labor practice cases closed within 365 days of the filing of the charge has been increased for FY 2013.
In addition, the board’s total case intake during FY 2012 was 24,275 compared to 25,004 cases in FY 2011, representing a 3% decrease in overall intake. Unfair labor practice case intake was 21,629, a 2.5% decrease from the previous year, and total representation case intake was 2, 646, a 6.5% decrease from the FY 2011 total.