NLRB Endorses Majority Sign Up

In a welcome about-face from the kind of rulings issued by the National Labor Relations Board under the Bush Administration, the NLRB has strongly endorsed workers' ability to choose union representation through majority sign up.

The case centers around a pre-recognition agreement between the UAW and Dana Corp. in St. Johns, Mich., where about 300 workers manufactured automotive parts. In that agreement, Dana agreed to recognize and bargain with the UAW once proof of majority support for a union by workers was determined and to remain "totally neutral" during the union’s organizing campaign on the issue of union representation.

The Board rejected charges by several anti-union employees that the pre-recognition agreement violated the National Labor Relations Act by giving improper support to the union. Instead, it found that the UAW-Dana agreement was lawful because it did not have any immediate impact on employees' terms and conditions of employment. The Board also stated that it would be very hesitant to create "new obstacles to voluntary recognition."

The Board provided strong support for majority sign up by affirming the law’s recognition of long-standing principles of voluntary recognition, noting "that an employer may voluntarily recognize a union that has demonstrated majority support by means other than an election, including authorization cards signed by a majority of the unit employees."

"This decision clearly demonstrates why it is so important to have a pro-worker majority on the NLRB," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

This decision involves different issues than the 2007 Dana Corporation decision involving a different corporate facility, where anti-union employees were given a 45-day window to petition for a decertification election after a majority of the workers had already acted to voluntarily recognize a union. Cases are now pending before the current Board to overturn that ruling.