CWA Backs NLRB Rule Changes to Improve Union Election Process

Citing case after case in which employers have systematically thwarted and delayed workers' efforts to organize, CWA is urging the National Labor Relations Board to move forward with rule changes to streamline and speed up union elections.

The NLRB announced in June that it would take modest steps to eliminate some of the procedural delays that employers abuse, and which give them more time to harass and intimidate union supporters.

The proposed rules would eliminate some of the abuses by:

• Holding hearings within 14 days prior to an election to resolve objections;
• Ensuring that employees, employers and unions receive and exchange timely information;
• Deferring litigation of most voter eligibility issues until after elections;
• Requiring employers to provide a final voter list in electronic form soon after the scheduling of an election, including workers' telephone numbers and email addresses;
• Consolidating all election-related appeals to the NLRB into a single appeals process after an election.

CWA cited campaigns by thousands of workers at Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, E-Z Pass, Dish-TV and other companies where employers delayed union representation elections by months and even years. The delays were used to erode worker support, terminate union supporters and even shut down workplaces to avoid an election.

One of the most glaring and prolonged abuses occurred between 2000 and 2005 at the Chinese Daily News, where the employer engaged in an aggressive campaign of threats, firings, intimidation and harassment while forcing one delay after another. Ultimately, the company defeated its 200 workers, who originally filed for union representation with 95 percent support.

"Reform of the NLRB election rules is long overdue," CWA told the Board. "For too long, employees who have wanted the benefits of union representation have watched in frustration and fear as the agency charged with protecting their right to make that choice appeared powerless to do its job."