NLRB Reforms Will Limit Corporations' Stalling Tactics in Union Elections

The National Labor Relations Board upheld some modest changes in the union representation election process; the changes had been proposed more than two years ago.

Listen to CWA President Larry Cohen talk on the Ed Schultz radio program about the effect of this decision. 

These new rules are intended to simplify the process and minimize delay. They involve common-sense changes, like allowing for electronic filings, getting voter lists to the parties sooner, and not letting frivolous appeals delay workers' elections or their results. CWA commends the NLRB for determining that workers should be able to have a fair vote in a timely manner.

Unfortunately, it is common practice for employers to delay the NLRB representation election process precisely so they can wage a campaign of intimidation against employees before they vote, if they are ever permitted to vote. These anti-worker, hostile campaigns are designed to increase strife and scare employees away from organizing efforts. While the election gets delayed, workers face a gauntlet of unfair labor practices, with employers intimidating or firing union supporters, making illegal changes to working conditions, or even shutting down workplaces altogether.

That even these modest changes have been challenged by anti-worker interests shows how hard it is for workers to get bargaining rights and a voice on the job. Workers who want to organize, at the overwhelming majority of employers, experience firsthand how management uses delay to keep workers from making a fair choice about union representation and gaining bargaining rights.

The preamble to the National Labor Relations Act actually says the law's purpose is "to promote collective bargaining." We still have a long way to go to reach that standard.