NLRB Votes to Streamline Union Elections; House Votes to Do Opposite

Amid great hue and cry from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and foes of workers' rights in Congress, the National Labor Relations Board voted Nov. 30 to do its job — protecting workers' rights by moving forward with a modest proposal to streamline the union election process.

In a 2-1 decision, the NLRB adopted a minor overhaul of labor regulations that will shorten the time that workers must wait between filing for an election and actually voting. Currently, many employers cause long delays by filing multiple and unfounded appeals, giving them more time to run anti-union campaigns.

The board's action means a final rule will be drafted, but another vote is required before it becomes policy.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. House, legislators voted 234-188 to pass a Republican-sponsored bill that would give employers even more time to intimidate workers before an election. Their legislation would not permit an election until at least 35 days after workers file. If the bill were to make it through the Senate, the White House has threatened to veto it.

CWA Legislative Director Shane Larson said one piece of good news was that eight Republicans stood up to their party leadership and voted against the bill. CWA Legislative-Political Action Team activists helped generate more than 6,500 phone calls to Congressional offices, in addition to 500 handwritten letters from members and 300 letters from local presidents.

The Republicans who stood with workers were Michael Grimm and Peter King, New York; Tim Johnson, Illinois; Steven LaTourette, Ohio; Frank LoBiondo, Jon Runyan and Chris Smith, New Jersey; and Don Young, Alaska.

The House bill is yet another right-wing attack on the NLRB, which was the subject of an AFL-CIO forum this week.

"This is the right wing on steroids." Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said. "They went to work immediately after the 2010 elections — not on jobs — but on taking rights away from American workers."

Kimberly Freeman Brown, director of American Rights at Work, said that since January, congressional Republicans have made nearly 50 separate assaults on the NLRB, from hearings and subpoenas to bills that would gut the agency's power and funding.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said the effort to cripple the NLRB is yet another way that politicians and corporations are trying to silence the voice of working people.

"This is a political attack campaign on what they see as their No. 1 enemy — labor, the only group with the power to stand up to them," Harkin said.

Click here to watch video of the forum on the AFL-CIO website.