Positive Step for Workers

On June 21, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a proposed rule that would help ensure workers have a basic right we hold dear in this country: the right to vote. By seeking to eliminate delays in the election process and modernizing an outdated system, the rule removes unfair obstacles so that workers can vote on whether to form a union if they want to. It’s a step in the right direction toward giving more workers a voice on the job, rebalancing our economy and rebuilding the middle class. Opposition to these modest changes by anti-union employers and their politicians is based on politics.

Some of the proposed changes are:

• Allow for electronic filing of election petitions and other documents.
• Ensure that employees, employers and unions receive and exchange timely information they need to understand and participate in the representation case process.
• Standardize timeframes for the scheduling of the hearing for parties to resolve or litigate issues.
• Require parties to identify issues and describe evidence soon after an election petition is filed to facilitate resolution and eliminate unnecessary litigation.
• Defer litigation of most voter eligibility issues until after the election.
• Require employers to provide a final voter list in electronic form soon after the scheduling of an election, including voters’ telephone numbers and email addresses when available.
• Consolidate all election-related appeals to the Board into a single post-election appeals process and thereby eliminate delay in holding elections currently attributable to the possibility of pre-election appeals.
• Make Board review of post-election decisions discretionary rather than mandatory.

“In just the first six months of this year, we have witnessed unprecedented assaults on workers’ rights in states across the country. Now, the NLRB is taking a positive step for workers who want to exercise their fundamental right to decide for themselves whether to form a union,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. “It’s time to restore some measure of balance and fairness to the system, starting with making sure workers have the right to vote whether to form a union without unnecessary delays.”

• Read President Henry’s full statement.
• Learn more about the proposed NLRB rule change.