The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is down to three members and faces a Dec. 31 drop-dead date when there will be just two members, has scheduled a vote on Nov. 30 on expedited rules for union organizing elections.
When the NLRB, due to a conflict between the White House and Congress, was reduced to two members under President George W. Bush, the Supreme Court ruled that a non-majority vote cannot be binding (a full NLRB has five members); thus the fatal deadline of Dec. 31 when another board member's commission expires.
The NLRB said it would, on Nov. 30, adopt a "small number" of the expediting provisions it is considering, though it's not clear what that means.
Among the provisions to be considered are a proposal to force pre-election hearings within seven days of a petition by employees to organize; another to postpone voter eligibility tests until after the election; still another to require employers to state their position before pre-election hearings are held; and another to require employers to furnish a pre-election voter list prior to the hearings. In short, an awful lot will have to happen within seven days when under current rules these matters can take a month or more.
The activist NLRB also has mandated the posting of an NLRA Employee Rights Poster in virtually every workplace in America. The deadline for that is Jan. 31, 2012.