Citing violations of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and various sections of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Chamber of Commerce of the United States has sued to have the recent “Quckie Election” rule governing unionization efforts overturned.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Dec. 12 promulgated its long-anticipated “Final Rule to Modernize Representation-Case Procedures,” which will take effect April 14 unless blocked by a court, as the Chamber hopes to do.
The final rule accelerates the union organization voting process by eliminating, or making much more difficult, many procedural ploys used by employers to stretch out the process and prevail in the eventual vote.
The NRLB, however, sees its effort as “modernizing [NLRA] rules in light of modern technology, making its procedures more transparent and uniform across regions, and eliminating unnecessary litigation and delay.”
The Chamber counters that “the Final Rule will restrict employers’ ability to litigate issues of eligibility and inclusion at the pre-election hearing, even if those issues are timely raised; sharply limit employers’ opportunity to seek Board review of a Regional Director’s decision before the election; and eliminates mandatory Board review of post-election disputes, making such review discretionary only. In these circumstances, if the union wins the election, the employer may be denied any Board review of the Regional Director’s decision and the employer’s only recourse for judicial review will be to subject itself to an unfair labor practice proceeding by refusing to bargain with the union.”
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