On Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board reissued new rules – first issued in June 2011 – to streamline the union election process and prevent employers undermining employee free choice through deliberate and unjustified delay.
The new election rules are moderate and commonsense changes that would provide some basic fairness for workers who want unions. At present, corporations and their powerful law firms can delay the union election process for weeks or even months. During this period, workers are subjected to mandatory “captive audience” meetings, one-on-one meetings between with supervisors, anti-union videos and flyers and a barrage of other anti-union materials at the workplace. None of these tactics – most of which are outlawed in other democratic countries – would be affected by these rules. Employers would still have ample time to subject employees to aggressive anti-union propaganda. They simply would no longer be permitted to delay NLRB elections through pre-election lawsuits and other frivolous tactics.
Read Full Article »